r^i ir=ii  ii-=nr= 


CEE  PAGES  21,  22.  23  AND  24  FOR 
DESCRIPTION  OF  TROJAN 
POWDER  COMPANY'S  WAR 
ACTIVITIES. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

Boston  Library  Consortium  IVIember  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/historyofmanufacOOwill 


SEE  PAGES  21,  22,  23  AND  24  FOR 
DESCRIPTION  OF  TROJAN  POWDER 
COMPANY'S  WAR  ACTIVITIES. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  MANUFACTURE 

OF  EXPLOSIVES  FOR  THE 

GREAT  WAR 

1917-1918 


'^P^SI- 


"Close  up"  view  of  Kelp  Harvester  at  work  off  San  Diego,  California.     The  sea  weed  is  shown  here  on  its  way  (after  cutting,  or  gathering)  to  the  macerating 
process  on  deck.     Upper  left-hand  view  shows  another  barge  alongside,  pumping  the  macerated  kelp  into  its  own  tanks.     This  barge  carries  the  kelp  to  shore^ 

where  it  is  piped  to  the  plant,  half  a  mile  inland  (see  page  33) .  O  NEILL  LIBRARY  t  / 

MHY  2  8   1996  2 


O'NEILL  LIBRARY 
BOSTON  COLLEGE 


Major  General  C.  C.  Williams,  U.  S.  A.  May  12,  1919. 

Chief  of  Ordnance, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
Sir: 

I  have  the  honor  to  submit  a  history,  in  narrative  and  pictorial  form,  of  the  achievements  of  the  Army  Ordnance 
Department  in  the  Philadelphia  Ordnance  District,  in  the  manufacture  of  Explosives. 

The  principal  headquarters  of  Explosives  manufacture  in  the  United  States  are,  unquestionably,  at  Wilmington,  Dela- 
ware, where  are  located  the  general  offices  of  the  greatest  Explosives  manufacturers,  and  it  was  thru  the  Philadelphia 
District  Ordnance  Office  that  most  of  the  output  under  Government  contracts  has  been  supervised  and  cleared. 

The  history  covers  in  some  part,  more  than  the  Philadelphia  District ;  this  because  of  the  fact  that  plants  of  the 
great  manufacturers  are  scattered  thru  many  districts,  and  it  occurred  that  parts  of  many  contracts  were  manufactured 
in  different  plants. 

Aside  from  cold  facts,  as  expressed  in  figures,  this  story  is  intended  to  point  out  the  stupendous  achievements  of 
American  Industry  (rather  than  the  achievement  of  any  particular  contractor);  the  difficulties,  seemingly  insurmountable, 
overcome  ;  the  colossal  task  of  plant  building ;  the  extremely  important  achievements  along  the  line  of  chemical  research, 
all  at  a  time  when  we  were  cut  off  from  certain  raw  material  supplies,  obtained  before  the  War  from  countries  which 
later  became  our  enemies. 

For  instance,  as  is  shown  on  page  33  from  a  certain  variety  of  giant  sea-weed  known  as  "  Kelp,"  potash  salt  was 
obtained  (  an  essential  in  the  manufacture  of  black  powder  )  which,  upon  chemical  transformation,  resulted  in  Nitrate  of 
Potash,  and  it  will  be  seen  by  the  figures,  that  from  the  ocean  itself  came  enough  potash  to  make  sufficient  black  powder 
to  supply  all  our  armies. 

Not  as  a  memento  of  the  Great  'War  is  this  submitted,  but  as  an  after-war  review  of  scenes,  the  passing  of  -which  was 
so  swift  at  a  time  when  our  thoughts  were  so  centralized  in  our  respective  duties,  as  to  preclude  a  possibility  of  keeping 
in  close  touch  with  them. 

Even  now,  in  reading  this  story  of  Explosives,  we  can  but  liken  the  scene  to  that  of  the  wake  of  a  departing 
ship  —  The  Great  War. 

Respectfully, 

\A^ILLIAM  B.  WILLIAMS 


General  view  of  Dynamite  Plant,  Bacchus,  Utah,  where  the  Hercules  Powder  Company  produced  Nitrate  of  Ammonia   (see  page  32) 

4 


Introduction 


"^HE  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  show  some  of  the  remarkable  achievements  of  American  ingenuity  and  industry  when  put 
to  the  test.    Ingenuity  coupled  with  resourcefulness  and  backed  up  by  industry. 

Surely  never  before  in  the  history  of  our  country  has  such  an  opportunity  presented  itself  to  show  the  world,  aye  our- 
selves, our  ability  to  rise  to  any  emergency  no  matter  how  colossal  in  size,  no  matter  how  seemingly  insurmountable! 

Dry  statistical  data  as  to  quantities  of  explosives  produced  has  little  meaning  here.  That  the  figures,  were  they  men- 
tioned, would  prove  astounding,  no  one  can  doubt.  In  this  connection,  however,  the  story  of  duPont  is  shown  in  a  manner 
calculated  to  give  the  reader  an  idea  as  to  the  physical  growth  of  plants  under  the  emergency  and  in  order  to  picture  the  "climb" 
of  production,  it  was  thought  wise  to  go  back  to  1914  and  follow  the  ever  ascending  scale  of  capacity  while  that  company,  like 
others,  was  supplying  the  demands  of  the  Allies.  Thus  we  arrive  at  the  date  April  6,  1917,  when  the  United  States  went  to 
the  rescue,  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  in  figures  the  tremendous  jump  in  production  from  that  date.  As  with  the  duPonts,  so 
with  the  other  major  explosives  interests,  capacities  were  strained  to  the  utmost  and  the  extremely  low  percentage  of  explosions 
and  casualties  in  explosives  plants  in  the  United  States  (which  at  first  thought  seems  marvelous)  was  but  another  proof  of  the 
efficiency  of  those  directing  the  work,  coupled  with  the  word  "carefulness,"  for  it  should  be  known  that  explosions  are  nearly 
always  the  result  of  someone's  carelessness  and  not  the  fault  of  the  explosive! 

The  Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant  of  the  Atlas  Powder  Co.  is  shown  at  length,  giving  figures,  as  an  example  of  plant  construc- 
tion under  peculiar  difficulties.  Photographic  views  have  been  arranged  with  a  view  of  showing  at  "close  up"  buildings 
which,  while  not  necessarily  standard,  typify  construction  for  like  purposes,  as  a  rule,  throughout  the  country. 

In  contemplating  the  views  of  some  of  our  major  explosives  plants  as,  for  instance.  Old  Hickory,  Hopewell  and  Carney's 
Point;  in  attaining  a  mental  focus  of  the  achievements  of  a  little  more  than  one  year  of  time;  in  comparing  America's  work 
of  a  few  months  with  that  of  Germany's  thirty-eight  years  of  cunningly  designed  and  strategically  applied  preparedness,  we 
can  but  declare  that  Alladin,  with  his  wonderful  lamp,  was  a  mere  tyro. 

Obstacles  arose  and,  almost  as  fast  as  they  presented  themselves,  were  overcome. 

Such  is  the  story  of  Army  Ordnance.  Credit  for  its  achievements  belongs,  not  to  any  one  department  nor  any  one  in- 
dustrial organization,  but  to  the  countless  thousands  of  workers,  from  the  official  executives  who  planned,  to  the  water-boys 
with  their  buckets  and  dippers,  and  it  was  "team-work,"  mental  and  physical  team-work,  backed  up  by  the  scream  of  the 
eagle  in  his  flight  to  the  rescue  of  liberty,  that  made  these  things  possible. 

The  Author. 


It  has  been  officially  declared  that  there  never  was  a  time  when  the  production  of  smokeless  powder 

and  high  explosives  did  not  only  equal  the  American  requirements,  but  in  addition 

provided  large  quantities  for  France  and  England 


History  of  the  Manufacture  of  Explosives  for  the  Great  War 

Showing   the   Achievements,    from    Year    to    Year,    of  the  E.  I.  duPont  de  Nemours  &  Co.;  Their  Production 

IN  April.  1917,  when  the  United  States  Entered  the  Conflict;   and  the  "Climb"  of  Production 

from  that  Date  Until  the  Signing  of  Armistice,  November  11th,  1918 

The  story  of  the  duPont  Company's  production  of  munitions  during  the  European  War  naturally  divides  itself 
into  three  periods:  first,  pre-war;  second,  from  the  start  of  the  war  to  April,  1917,  when  the  United  States 
joined  the  Allies;  and  third,  from  April,  1917,  to  the  close  of  hostilities.    These  are  treated  in  the  order  named. 

The  E.  I.  dii  Pont  de  Nemours  and  Company 


First  Period 


N  1914,  after  an  existence  of  112  years  in  the  United  States, 
duPont  occupied  the  position  of  being  the  largest  manufacturer 
of  explosives  in  the  world.  Their  main  products,  however,  were 
commercial  djTiamites  and  black  powder.  As  far  as  strictly  mili- 
tar}'  explosives  were  concerned,  the  United  States  government  was, 
practically  speaking,  the  Company's  only  customer.  Its  demands 
were  small  and  consequendy  the  Company's  capacity  and  production 
were  likewise. 

^Tiile  there  was  an  efficient  organization  on  which  to  build  for 
expansion,  conditions  in  this  respect  were  less  favorable  than  they 
had  been.  The  duPont  Company  was  dissolved  by  Court  decree  in 
1912  into  the  Atlas,  Hercules  and  duPont  Companies.  Operating, 
chemical  and  odier  officials  were  divided  by  the  terms  of  dissolution 
and  the  re-organization  of  die  personnel  of  the  duPont  Company  had 
not  yet  been  completed. 

The  outbreak  of  war  found  the  explosives  companies  of  England, 
Russia  and  France  ill  prepared  to  meet  the  requirements  of  their 
respective  governments  and  the  latter  naturally  turned  to  duPont  to 
help  make  up  the  deficiency.    The  greatest  demand  was  for  smoke- 


less powder.  The  Company's  capacity  for  the  manufacture  of  this 
commodity,  together  with  other  munitions,  treated  approximately  in 
the  order  of  their  importance,  is  given  below. 

Smokeless  Powder 

Three  plants — Carney's  Point,  Haskell  and  Parlin,  all  in  New 
Jersey — widi  a  combined  theoretical  capacity  of  12,000,000  pounds 
of  cannon  and  rifle  powder  per  year. 

Trinitrotoluol  or  Triton 

Two  plants,  Repanuo,  N.  J.,  and  Barksdale,  Wis.,  capacity 
660,000  pounds  per  month.  Actual  production  approximately 
1,000,000  pounds  total  since  1912,  half  of  which  was  for  use  in 
commercial  dynamite.  The  main  capacity  was  for  the  manufacture 
of  crude  T.  N.  T.  There  was  but  little  capacity  for  the  manufacture 
of  refined. 

Black  Powder 

Plants  at  Wayne,  N.  J.,  Montchanin,  Del.,  and  elsewhere  which, 
mainly  employed   in  the  manufacture  of  sodium  nitrate   blasting 


powder,  could  readily  be  used  for  the  production  of  military  black 
powder  for  ignition  and  base  charges. 

There  was  ample  capacity  to  meet  all  requirements  except  insofar 
as  the  manufacture  of  pellets  for  shrapnel  was  concerned.  A  suit- 
able powder  for  pellets  had  not  been  developed  and  that  Company 
had  never  attempted  to  manufacture  pellets. 

Tetryl 

The  duPont  Company  had  no  plant,  and  material  had  only  been 
manufactured  in  an  experimental  way. 

Fulminate  of  Mercury 

Plant  at  Pompton  Lakes,  N.  J.,  with  capacity  of  60,000  pounds 
per  month.    Actual  production  about  30,000  pounds  per  month. 


Ammonium  Nitrate 

Plants  at  duPont,  Wash.,  Louviers,  Col.,  Barksdale,  Wis.,  and 
Repauno,  N.  J.  Capacity  1,350,000  pounds  per  month  above  com- 
mercial requirements. 

As  regards  the  items  listed  below  the  Company  had  no  capacity 
or  experience  in  production: 

Trinitroxylol  or  T.  N.  X. 

Ammonal. 

Demolition  Blocks  T.  N.  T. 

Ammonium  Picrate. 

Picric  Acid. 

Table  No.  1  shows  capacities  as  of  July,  1914. 


Table  No.  1 — Monthly  Capacity  duPont  Explosives  Plants 


Material                                                                                                  Prior  July,  1914 
Smokeless  Powder _.     1,000.000 


Trinitrotoluol — T.  N.  T. 

Black  Powder 

Tetryl   

Fulminate  of  Mercury  .... 
Trinitroxylol — ^T.  N.  X.  . 


660,000 
550,000 

0 
60,000 

0 


Material  Prior  July,  1914 

Ammonium  Nitrate  1,350,000 

Ammonium  Picrate  0 

Picric  Acid  - 0 

Ammonal    0 

T.  N.  T.  Demolition  Blocks  0 


Second  Period 


~|^RIOR  to  the  war  the  duPont  Company  developed  in  connec- 
j-  tion  with  the  United  States  Government  a  satisfactory  nitro- 
-d_  cellulose  cannon  powder,  a  nitrocellulose  rifle  powder  and  a 
nitroglycerin  pistol  powder.  They  had  just  completed  the  develop- 
ment of  the  progressive  burning  I.  M.  R.  rifle  powder  when  the  war 
broke  out.  They  had  also  developed  a  nitrocellulose  pistol  powder 
and  sold  a  few  thousand  pounds  per  year  to  the  sporting  trade. 

The  British  Government  standardized  on  nitroglycerin  rifle  and 
cannon  powder  and  when  they  opened  negotiations  in  1914  for  the 
purchase  of  smokeless  powder  they  wanted  to  specify  nitroglycerin 
grades.  The  duPont  Company  insisted  they  would  supply  nothing 
but  nitrocellulose  powder  to  be  manufactured  with  their  current 
standards.  The  fact  that  the  Company  could  offer  immediate  pro- 
duction caused  England  to  accept  the  proposition.  It  is  of  interest 
and  a  source  of  satisfaction  to  know  that  England  and  Italy,  who  had 


previously  been  committed  to  nitroglycerin  powder,  continued  to 
purchase  the  duPont  nitrocellulose  rifle  and  cannon  powders  to  the 
end  of  the  war  and  that  England  turned  to  duPont  I.  M.  R.  powders 
exclusively  for  small  arms. 

The  duPonts  signed  a  contract  on  October  12,  1914,  to  deliver 
8,000,000  pounds  of  smokeless  powder  to  France.  Before  April, 
1917,  they  sold  approximately  400,000,000  pounds  of  Smokeless 
Powder  to  the  various  allied  governments,  together  with  27,000,000 
pounds  of  guncotton.  A  plant  was  built  at  Hopewell,  Va.,  for  the 
manufacture  of  acid  and  the  nitration  of  cotton.  The  Carney's  Point, 
Haskell  and  Parlin  Plants  were  enlarged  and  by  April,  1917,  the 
combined  capacity  amounted  to  33,000,000  pounds  per  month. 

There  was  a  large  demand  for  T.  N.  T.  and  between  October,  1914, 
and  April,  1917,  about  50,000,000  pounds  were  sold  to  allied  gov- 
ernments.    The  plant  at  Repauno  was  abandoned  and  that  at  Barks- 

{Continued  on  page  10) 


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"^HIS  panoramic  view  shows  the  great  guncotton  plant  of  the 
duPont  Company  located  at  Hopewell,  Va.  It  was  built  to 
supply  the  demands  of  the  European  War  and  from  the  early 
part  of  1915,  when  operations  were  begun,  until  the  armistice  was 
signed,  it  produced  1,158,477,921  pounds  of  guncotton.  It  was 
looked  upon  as  the  greatest  guncotton  plant  in  the  world.  It  em- 
ployed at  the  peak  28,513  persons.  Its  community  village  had 
accommodations  for  1,850  families.  Its  construction  was  a"  marvel 
of  engineering  skill  and  speed,  the  plant  being  completed  in  nineteen 
months! 

On  looking  at  this  picture  from  left  to  right  one  sees  to  the  left 
and  prominently  in  the  foreground  "A"  plant  power  house.  To  the 
left  of  the  power  house  are  the  main  office  buildings  and  to  the 
extreme  left  in  the  distance  are  the  Norfolk  &  Western  Railway 
station  and  the  town  of  Hopewell.  A  short  distance  from  the  railway 
station  is  die  main  entrance  to  the  plant.  In  the  background,  behind 
the  stacks  of  the  power  house,  are  the  cotton  purification  and  dry 
house  buildings  of  "A"  plant. 

At  the  right  of  the  power  house  is  the  acid  area.  Immediately  in 
the  foreground  to  the  right  of  the  power  house  are  nitrating  houses 
and  in  the  background  and  slightly  to  the  right  may  be  seen  the 

Parlin, 

y  ~^HIS  is  a  panoramic  view  of  the  smokeless  powder  plant  of  the 
I  duPont  Company  located  at  Parlin,  N.  J.  It  was  one  of  the 
-S-  important  duPont  plants  engaged  in  supplying  munitions  for 
the  Allies  and  the  United  States  Government.  Previous  to  its  great 
expansion  to  supply  die  needs  of  the  Allies  just  after  the  outbreak  of 
the  European  War,  this  plant  had  a  capacity  of  approximately  7,500 
pounds  of  cannon  powder  per  day.  Its  output  was  built  up  from  this 
figure  to  that  of  375,000  pounds  of  military  smokeless  powder  per 
day,  and  30,000  pounds  of  guncotton  per  day.  The  remainder  of 
the  guncotton  needed  for  its  smokeless  powder  was  brought  from 
Hopewell,  Va. 

At  the  peak  this  plant  employed  4,900  persons.  It  had  housing 
accommodations  for  1,100  bachelors,  400  single  women,  and  dwell- 
ing houses  for  seventy  families. 

This  picture  shows  among  other  things,  ether  houses,  power  plants, 
solvent  recoveries  and  blending  towers. 


Hopewell,  Virginia 

stacks  and  buildings  of  nitric  acid  and  acid  recovery  houses  and 
sulphuric  acid  houses.  About  in  the  center  of  the  picture  and  in  the 
foreground  the  guncotton  area  begins.  The  large,  low  building  in 
the  foreground  is  a  boiling  tub  house  and  to  the  right  of  it  are 
beater,  poacher,  and  blocking  houses.  To  the  right  of  the  guncotton 
line  is  a  three-story  barn-like  structure  with  a  tank  on  the  roof.  This 
is  the  soda  ash  recovery  plant  and  to  the  right  of  it  is  a  group  of 
buildings  comprising  the  caustic  soda  plant  and  the  acid  water 
neutralization  plant. 

On  the  right  of  the  picture  are  seen  boiling  tub  houses  with  great 
quantities  of  steam  coming  from  the  stacks.  Immediately  in  the 
rear  of  these  houses  is  the  stack  of  "C"  plant  power  house  and  the 
large  building  in  the  background  to  the  left  of  the  power  house  stack 
is  a  raw  sulphur  storage  house.  To  the  left  of  this  and  also  in  the  far 
background  is  the  "C"  sulphuric  acid  plant.  At  the  extreme  right 
of  the  picture  and  in  the  background  are  seen  buildings  of  the  "B" 
plant  guncotton  lines. 

The  river  seen  in  the  background  to  the  extreme  left  of  the  picture 
is  the  Appomatox  while  farther  to  the  right  and  in  the  background  is 
the  James  River.  On  this  latter  stream  were  the  wharves  of  the 
Hopewell  plant  and  most  of  the  guncotton  was  shipped  from  there. 

New  Jersey 

On  the  extreme  left  are  ether  houses  of  what  was  known  as  Plant 
No.  2;  the  three  stacks  towards  the  left  of  the  picture  are  those  of 
the  new  power  house.  Further  to  the  right  are  sho\vn  the  three 
stacks  of  the  old  power  house.  Immediately  in  front  of  these  stacks 
are  located  the  buildings  of  the  guncotton  line  and  between  the  old 
power  plant  and  the  new  power  plant  are  some  of  the  buildings  of 
the  chemical  plant. 

To  the  right  of  the  old  power  house  the  buildings  in  the  center 
background  are  mechanical  shops,  and  farther  in  the  background 
are  dwelling  houses  located  outside  the  plant.  A  little  to  the  right  of 
the  center  of  the  picture  is  seen  a  large  water  tank  used  as  part  of 
the  fire  protection  and  immediately  to  the  right  of  it  are  ether  houses 
of  plant  No.  1.  In  the  foreground  to  the  right  of  the  picture  are 
seen  two  mixing  houses  and  immediately  to  the  right  of  them  are 
five  finishing  press  houses.  Farther  to  the  right  is  seen  a  line  of 
solvent  recoveries.  In  the  rear  of  the  solvent  recoveries,  prominently 
located  on  a  slight  hill,  is  a  new  type  water  dryer.  The  buildings 
immediately  in  front  of  this  are  old  type  water  dryers. 


dale  enlarged  so  that  in  April,  1917,  it  had  a  capacity  of  4,000,000 
pounds  per  month. 

duPont  furnished  2,000,000  pounds  of  black  powder  for  bursting 
charge  in  shrapnel  and  700,000  pounds  of  fuse  powder  for  time 
trains.  It  was  reported  by  the  British  Government  that  results 
obtained  by  their  inspectors  with  duPont  fuse  powder,  indicated  it 
to  be  superior  to  all  others. 

There  was  also  a  large  demand  for  black  powder  pellets  for  time 
fuse  and  shrapnel.  Experimental  work  was  started  late  in  1914  as 
a  result  of  which  a  suitable  powder  was  developed  and  the  manu- 
facture of  pellets  developed.    One  hundred  and  thirty  million  pellets 


of  possibly  eighteen  different  sizes  and  styles  were  sold  prior  to  our 
entrance  into  the  war. 

A  plant  was  constructed  at  Deepwater  Point,  N.  J.,  for  the  produc- 
tion of  Tetryl.  By  April,  1917,  this  plant  was  able  to  produce 
60,000  pounds  per  month. 

The  Pompton  Lakes  Fulminate  of  Mercury  Plant  proved  ample 
to  meet  all  needs. 

The  manufacture  of  Picric  Acid  and  Ammonium  Picrate  was 
started  at  Deepwater  Point  and  plants  built  with  capacity  to  make 
125,000  pounds  per  month  of  the  former  and  250,000  pounds  per 
month  of  the  latter  commodity. 


Table  No.  2  shows  capacities  as  of  April,  1917. 
Table  No.  2 — Monthly  Capacity  duPont  Explosives  Plants 


Material 


Prior  July,  1914      April,  1917 


Smokeless  Powder 1,000,000 

Trinitrotoluol— T.  N.  T 

Black  Powder 

Tetryl 

Fulminate  of  Mercury '. 

Trinitroxylol— T.  N.  X 


,000,000 

33,000,000 

660,000 

4,000,000 

550,000 

550,000 

0 

60,000 

60,000 

60,000 

0 

0 

Material  Prior  July,  1914 

Ammonium  Nitrate  1,350,000 

Ammonium  Picrate  0 

Picric  Acid  0 

Ammonal    0 

T.  N.  T.  Demolition  Blocks  0 


April,  1917 

1,350,000 

250,000 

125,000 

0 

25,000 


Third  Period 


HILE  the  Allies'  demands  had  been  enormous,  they  were 
not  nearly  as  large  as  the  requirements  of  our  Govern- 
ment when  she  entered  the  war  in  April,  1917.  duPont 
was,  however,  able  to  offer  sufficient  capacity  to  meet  the  entire  first 
program  for  cannon  and  small  arms  powder,  but  it  later  became 
evident  this  would  not  be  sufficient  and  that  there  was  not  enough 
smokeless  powder  capacity  in  the  entire  country  to  meet  the  en- 
larged program. 

The  Government  decided  to  build  two  plants,  each  with  a  capacity 
of  500,000  pounds  per  day  and  duPont  was  asked  to  assist  them  in 
selecting  the  sites  and  also  to  design  the  plants.  Sites  were  selected 
at  Charleston,  W.  Va.,  and  Nashville,  Tenn.,  and  the  plant  at  the 
latter  place  was  built  by  the  duPont  Engineering  Company.  The 
speed  at  which  this  last  plant  was  erected  established  a  record  for 
surpassing  anything  previously  done — ground  was  broken  on  March 
8th,  and  in  June  operation  of  an  acid  unit  was  started.  Since  that 
time  30,000,000  pounds  of  smokeless  powder  have  been  produced 
at  Old  Hickory  (near  Nashville). 


At  the  close  of  the  war  the  company's  capacity  for  the  manufacture 
of  smokeless  powder  amounted  to  1,700,000  pounds  per  day  and 
was  being  rapidly  increased  by  additions  to  the  Old  Hickory  plant 
which  would  give  the  latter  a  capacity  of  900,000  pounds  per  day. 
Incidentally  all  powder  manufactured  was  packed  in  boxes  built  in 
duPont  shops  to  a  large  extent  from  wood  obtained  from  the  Com- 
pany's mills  and  land. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1917  an  extension  was  built  to  the  Barksdale 
Plant  so  as  to  run  its  capacity  for  the  manufacture  of  T.  N.  T.  up  to 
6,000,000  pounds  per  month.  In  spite  of  this  increase  the  produc- 
tion of  T.  N.  T.  was  still  inadequate  and  the  Company  was  asked  in 
the  middle  of  1918  to  contract  and  operate  a  duplicate  plant  at 
Racine,  Wis.  Construction  work  had  started  when  the  Armistice 
came. 

The  capacity  for  the  manufacture  of  Tetryl  was  increased  so  that 
by  the  end  of  the  war,  production  amounted  to  150,000  pounds  per 
month. 


10 


There  was  a  demand  from  the  Engineer  Corps  for  a  special  class 
of  explosives  for  engineering  and  sapping  work  and  the  Company 
started  in  1916  at  Carney's  Point  to  make  compressed  rectangular 
and  cylindrical  blocks  of  Triton  approximately  one-half  pound  in 
weight.  The  work  was  later  transferred  to  Barksdale.  Production 
amounted  to  25,000  pounds  per  month.  Blocks  so  made  did  not 
stand  up  as  well  as  desired  in  transportation  and  handling  and  in 
July,  1917,  the  Company  was  asked  to  consider  the  copper  plating 
of  such  blocks.  The  Engineer  Department  had  done  some  experi- 
mental work  along  these  lines  and  with  the  help  of  their  experience 
the  duPont  Company  installed  a  copper  plating  equipment  and  started 
production  late  in  1917.  Production  reached  65,000  pounds  per 
month  by  the  middle  of  1918.     This  met  their  program. 

It  was  found  that  the  ordinary  type  of  detonator  was  not  strong 
enough  to  properly  explode  the  blocks  so  the  duPont  Company 
designed  and  manufactured  at  their  Detonator  Plant,  Pompton  Lakes, 
New  Jersey,  a  detonator  considerably  stronger  than  any  previously 
made  commercially,  which  gave  complete  satisfaction  and  it  has 
been  adopted  as  the  standard. 

For  sapping  work  they  wanted  an  explosive  of  the  Ammonal  type. 
The  Chemical  Department  developed  such  an  explosive,  known  as 
duPont  Ammonal,  and  in  field  tests  at  Camp  Dix  and  elsewhere,  it 
proved  the  equal,  if  not  the  superior,  of  T.  N.  T.  as  a  sapping 
explosive. 

The  duPonts  supplied  the  Government  with  their  total  require- 
ments, 1,300,000  pounds,  between  May,  1918,  and  the  close  of  the 
war.  The  English  had  used  compressed  guncotton  as  a  primer.  The 
duPonts  suggested  compressed  Triton  Blocks  as  a  better  and  safer 
booster  and  this  plan  was  adopted. 

The  Engineers  required  an  explosive  for  quarry  operations  in 


France.  A  40  per  cent  low  freezing  gelatin  was  recommended;  over 
1,000,000  pounds  of  this  explosive  were  manufactured. 

The  duPonts  also  held  contracts  covering  an  immense  loading 
program  and  they  loaded  the  majority  of  the  aeroplane  drop  bombs 
loaded  in  this  country.  Approximately  40,000  were  turned  out  at 
Repauno.  These  were  loaded  with  Lyconite,  an  explosive  developed 
by  duPont  chemists  at  their  Eastern  Laboratory,  Gibbstown,  N.  J., 
especially  for  drop  bombs;  1,200,000  pounds  of  Lyconite  were  used. 

Early  in  June,  1918,  German  submarines  appeared  off  the  Eastern 
Coast  and  sank  a  number  of  ships.  Ordnance  Department  officials 
appealed  to  duPonts,  by  telephone,  to  load  300  bombs.  A  special 
messenger  brought  the  necessary  primers  from  New  Haven,  Conn., 
and  by  everyone  pitching  in  and  working  day  and  night  they  managed 
to  ship  half  of  the  quantity  of  bombs  by  truck  in  twenty-four  hours 
and  the  remainder  in  forty-eight  hours! 

For  the  Livens  Projector,  a  nitrocellulose  container  for  the  pro- 
pellant  charge  was  developed  which  was  given  the  name  of  nitro- 
tite.  This  was  adopted  by  the  Ordnance  Department  to  replace  the 
English  arrangement  of  cotton  bags  separated  by  a  tin  segmental 
contrivance.  These  containers  were  being  loaded  at  the  rate  of  1,000 
per  day  on  an  order  for  137,000.  Just  before  the  War  ended  the 
Company  accepted  an  additional  order  for  900,000  to  be  supplied 
by  June,  1919,  and  a  new  plant  at  Brandywine,  Del.,  with  a  capacity 
of  from  4,000  to  6,000  charges  per  day  had  almost  been  completed. 

Nitrotite  was  developed  mainly  as  a  substitute  for  silk  propellant 
containers  used  in  unfixed  ammunition  and  50,000  were  furnished 
for  the  155  m.m.  gun.  The  English  had  been  experimenting  with  a 
somewhat  similar  material,  but  without  success,  so  Nitrotite  was 
distinctly  an  American  creation  which  was  not  only  the  equal  of  silk 
in  important  respects,  but  superior  in  many. 


Table  No.  3 — Monthly  Capacity  duPont  Explosives  Plants 


Prior 
July,  1914 

Smokeless  Powder 1,000.000 

Trinitrotoluol— T.  N.  T 660,000 

Black  Powder* 550,000 

Tetryl 0 

Fulminate  of  Mercury 60,000 

Trinitroxulol— T.  N.  X 0 

Ammonium  Nitrate*  1,350,000 


Armistice 
Month 
April,  1917        Nov.,  1918 

33.000.000     52,000,000 
4.000.000      6.000,000 


550.000 

60,000 

60,000 

0 

1.350,000 


550,000 

150,000 

60,000 

2.500,000 

1.350,000 


Ammonium  Picrate  

Picric  Acid 

Ammonal**  

T.  N.  T.  Demolition  Blocks  . 


Prior 
July,  1914 

0 
0 
0 
0 


*Above  commercial  requirements. 
**Had  facilities  to  increase  if  necessary. 


April,  1917 

250,000 

125,000 

0 

25,000 


Armistice 

Month 
Nov..  1918 

250,000 

125,000 

700,000 

65,000 


11 


The  foregoing  tells  the  main  story  of  quantity  production,  but 
this  Company  handled  many  projects  of  a  special  or  experimental 
nature  which  are  not  covered. 

At  their  Eastern  Laboratory,  Gibbstown,  N.  J.,  their  chemists,  in 
co-operation  with  Ordnance  Department  officers,  carried  on  experi- 
mental work  to  determine  proper  bursting,  booster  and  detonating 
charges  for  various  shells  and  bombs,  and  loading  specifications 
were  ordinarily  drawn  as  a  result  of  this  work. 

Lyconite,  an  explosive  for  bombs,  and  Grenite,  an  explosive  for 
grenades,  were  developed  by  the  Chemical  Department  and  sold  to 
the  United  States. 

The  manufacture  of  diphenylamine,  the  necessary  stabilizing  agent 
for  smokeless  powder,  was  developed.  Previous  to  the  war,  this 
material  was  not  manufactured  in  this  country  and  its  successful 
manufacture  constitutes  one  of  the  greatest  single  achievements  in 
this  line,  during  the  war. 

Pistol  Powder,  No.  3,  a  nitrocellulose  powder,  was  adopted  by  the 
Ordnance  Department,  and  was  manufactured  at  the  rate  of  2,000 
pounds  per  day,  which  met  the  requirements. 

The  duPont  No.  3  blasting  machine  was  decided  upon  as  the 
standard  for  the  engineers  and  300  were  manufactured  in  two 
months'  time  on  a  rush  order.  This  was  a  large  order  for  this  class 
of  material. 

On  request  from  the  Engineers,  the  duPonts  assisted  in  the  design 
of  demolition  outfits,  to  be  carried  by  the  men  in  the  field,  and 
assembled  87,000  at  their  Pompton  Lakes  Plant. 

Other  divisions  of  that  company  supplied  large  quantities  of  their 
products  either  directly   or   indirectly   to   the   Government,   as,   for 


instance,  Pyralin  for  gas-mask  eye-pieces  and  battery  jars,  coated 
fabrics  for  clothing,  dugout  curtains,  etc.,  as  a  protection  against 
poisonous  gases  and  fire,  various  special  chemicals  and  acids,  large 
quantities  of  paint  for  camouflage  of  ships,  etc.,  and  dopes  for  aero- 
planes. 

With  but  one  or  two  exceptions,  production  proceeded  according 
to  schedule  and  in  many  instances  was  better  than  commitments. 
Considering  the  volume  of  business,  the  amount  of  new  construction 
necessary,  the  labor  turnover,  etc.,  the  results  obtained  were  truly 
remarkable. 

We  have  all  heard  much  of  the  rapid  strides  made  by  various 
American  industries  during  the  war,  notably  shipbuilding  and  steel 
manufacture,  with  its  associated  branches,  but  there  has  been  little 
said  or  written  about  the  explosives  industry.  The  average  citizen 
does  not  realize  that  the  explosives  companies  were  no  more  pre- 
pared at  the  start  of  this  war  to  meet  the  demands  which  they  later 
did  meet  than  the  shipbuilders  were  to  build  ships  and  not  as  well 
prepared  perhaps  as  the  steel  manufacturers  to  take  care  of  the  in- 
creased demands  for  steel  plates,  rails,  locomotives,  shells,  etc.  The 
way  in  which  the  duPont  organization  was  enlarged,  new  plants  built, 
methods  of  manufacture  improved  and  production  increased,  con- 
stitutes one  of  the  greatest  achievements  in  American  industrial 
history.  Incidentally  (as  an  outgrowth  of  the  war)  it  might  be  added 
that  E.  L  duPont  de  Nemours  &  Company  also  found  time  to  put 
their  peace-time  activities  on  a  more  substantial  basis  and  to  develop 
the  manufacture  of  dye-stuffs  to  such  an  extent  as  to  make  this  coun- 
try largely  independent  of  Germany. 


12 


"Old  Hickory" 

The  Greatest  Smokeless  Powder  Plant  in  the  World  Near  Nashville,  Tennessee 


I  HE  stupendous  achievement  of  the  duPont  Engineering  Co. 
an  offshot  of  the  great  explosives  firm  of  E.  I.  DuPont  de 
Nemours  &  Co.,  in  creating  this  plant  for  the  Government  dur- 
ing the  first  months  of  the  second  year  of  the  great  war,  has  been 
acknowledged  by  the  Chief  of  Ordnance  himself  in  a  letter  from 
which  we  quote  herewith  as  follows: 

"Since  the  signing  of  the  armistice  and  with  the  cessation  of  muni- 
tion production  there  has  been  brought  to  my  attention  a  review  of 
your  work  on  the  Old  Hickory  Smokeless  Powder  Plant  at  Nash- 
ville, Tenn. 

"To  have  built  up  and  put  into  operation  the  first  units  of  such  a 
plant  in  less  than  five  months  from  the  date  of  breaking  ground, 
under  the  stressful  conditions  existing,  involving,  as  it  did,  the  con- 
struction not  only  of  the  major  plant,  but  of  a  number  of  sub- 
process  plants,  each  of  which  in  itself  might  be  regarded  as  an 
undertaking  of  no  little  magnitude,  must  always  be  regarded  as  a 
remarkable  achievement. 

"The  fact  that  this  initiation  of  operation  was  accomplished  some 
two  months  prior  to  contract  promises  and  that  production  has  been 
since  maintained  at  all  times  in  excess  of  contract  requirements, 
still  further  embellishes  the  very  perfect  construction  record. 

"The  history  of  what  you  have  done  at  Nashville  is  paralleled  by 
the  very  satisfactory  and  uniform  fulfillment  of  your  expectations  on 
practically  all  other  work  you  have  undertaken  for  the  Government. 
All  of  this  on  materials  that  were  most  vital  to  the  successful  issue 
of  the  war. 

"It  is,  therefore,  a  distinct  pleasure  to  express  to  you  the  very 
sincere  appreciation  of  the  Ordnance  Department  for  the  highly 
efficient  and  fruitful  part  your  Company  has  played  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  munition  supply." 

As  is  indicated  in  General  Williams'  letter,  operations  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  Smokeless  Powder  started  five  months  after  breaking 
groimd.  This  means  that  instead  of  delays  (which  naturally  could 
be  looked  for  under  such  conditions  as  prevailed  throughout  the 
countr}')  finished  powder  was  turned  out  for  our  armies  ahead  of 
scheduled  time.     Thirty  millions  of  pounds  of  smokeless  powder 


13 


had  been  produced  at  Old  Hickory  up  to  the  time  the  whistles  were 
blowing  to  quit  on  November  11th,  1918. 

Construction  proceeded  from  the  start  in  leaps  and  bounds.  Again 
and  again  top  notches  were  cut  in  speed  records.  As  we  proceed  in 
the  review  of  Old  Hickory,  and  as  we  consider  such  factors  as  time, 
labor  and  materials,  the  term  "magic"  seems  more  and  more 
appropriate. 

The  fairy  wand  in  this  case  (metaphorically  speaking)  being  the 
Eagle,  who,  from  the  heights  saw  the  menace.  Spreading  the  alarm 
from  horizon  to  horizon,  the  forces  of  a  nation  responded  one  hun- 
dred per  cent.  AU  the  ingenuity;  all  the  energy;  all  the  resources; 
all  the  determination.  All — one  hundred  per  cent  All — responded, 
and  when  the  Eagle  successfully  rid  his  domain,  aye,  all  humanity, 
let  us  hope,  of  the  menace  which  threatened,  back  to  his  eyrie  he 
flew.  His  duty  accomplished.  We  have  the  secret.  Old  Hickory 
was  one  of  the  very  many  stupendous  developments. 

Look  upon  the  panorama  of  the  workshops  of  the  victors.  Behold, 
in  full  relief,  marvels  of  construction ;  walk  about — not  among  ruins, 
but  a  vast  completed  work.  "What,"  you  say,  "Walk  over  a  reserva- 
tion the  area  of  which  is  4,706  acres,  and  go  in  and  out  of  more  than 
a  thousand  buildings?"  We  answer:  "Why  not?  The  roads  are 
ample;  more  than  seven  miles  of  concrete  and  four  miles  of 
macadam;  thirty-three  miles  of  board-walks!"  You  say  that  such  a 
trip  is  out  of  the  question.  Well,  then,  stand  with  us  up  here  in  a 
tower  160  feet  high  and  look  do^vn  upon  the  scene.  Over  here, 
(page  16)  at  top,  are  the  Nitric  Acid  and  Sulphuric  Acid  Plants. 
This  plant  had  started  on  the  production  of  sulphuric  acid  nine  weeks 
after  ground  was  broken  for  the  acid  lines.  Terra  cotta  and  brick 
constituted  the  type  of  buildings  in  the  acid  manufacturing  zone.  In 
such  buildings  colossal  vats  and  tanks  were  installed.  Nitrate  of 
soda  and  sulphur  were  stored  in  their  respective  store-houses  erected 
with  a  view  of  being  conveniently  near  the  units  which  would  require 
these  materials.  Millions  upon  millions  of  pounds  of  nitrate  of  soda 
and  of  sulphur  were  kept  on  hand  in  these  buildings.  On  the  same 
page  at  bottom  is  the  gun  cotton  belt.  Millions  of  pounds  of  cotton 
were  stored  in  immense  warehouses.  These  warehouses  were  sheathed 
with  corrugated  iron. 


On  page  15  is  shown  at  top  the  Smokeless  Powder  Lines.  Ground 
was  broken  March  4tli  and  on  July  2nd  powder  was  manufactured 
and  yet  another  world's  record  for  speed  established.  This  was  116 
days  after  breaking  ground.  At  the  bottom  of  same  page  is  shown 
the  village.  The  magic  city.  To  house  and  feed  and  care  for  the 
30,000  persons  whose  homes  must  needs  be  near  the  plant  was  a 
gigantic  problem  in  itself. 

But  another  rub  of  the  "Wonderful  Lamp"  and  AUadin-like, 
where  but  a  few  months  before  was  heard  the  lowing  of  the  kine; 
where  quietude  was  broken  only  by  the  whiz  of  the  threshing  ma- 
chine, or  the  voice  of  the  farmer  speaking  to  his  plow  horses,  there 
grew,  magic-like,  a  city. 

A  city  with  its  hospitals,  its  police  and  fire  departments,  its  hotels, 
churches,  schools  and  amusement  places.  A  modem  city,  if  you 
please,  with  improved  sewage  system  —  miles  of  it  —  incinerating 
plants  and  a  really  wonderful  reservoir  and  filter  plant.  There  was 
a  Mexican  village  of  forty-one  buildings  where  3,000  Mexicans  were 
quartered. 

Schools  for  white  and  colored  children  were  erected,  and  again 
speed  records  scored  when  an  immense  school  house  was  completed 
and  ready  for  use  in  ten  days.  These  schools  were  250  feet  by 
350  feet. 

Construction  of  the  village  took  the  sky-rocket  phase  when  a  six- 
room  bungalow  was  completed  in  nine  hours,  including  the  plumb- 
ing, screening  and  all  other  details.  In  another  case  a  two-story 
block  apartment  building  containing  six  houses,  began  at  7.30  in  the 
morning,  when  excavation  was  started  for  the  foundations,  and  was 


ready  for  occupancy  twenty-nine  and  a  half  hours  later.  Just  think 
of  it!  A  block  of  six  houses  in  twenty-nine  and  a  half  hours!  And 
this  with  the  fact  that  during  this  time  the  work  was  hampered  by 
reason  of  men  who  were  at  work  on  it  being  required  to  leave  for  a 
time,  in  squads  of  ten  and  fifteen,  to  go  to  headquarters  and  register 
under  the  Selective  Service  Act. 

The  "Village"  at  Old  Hickory  contained  all  the  phases  of  a  modem 
city.  There  were  nearly  fifty  miles  of  terra  cotta  sewers,  thirty-three 
miles  of  board-walks,  forty-four  miles  of  water  lines,  3,867  build- 
ings requiring  in  all  65,000,000  board  feet  of  lumber,  or  enough  to 
lay  a  plank  along  the  borders  and  seacoasts  of  the  United  States,  with 
enough  lumber  left  over  to  erect  large  watch-towers  at  each  of  the 
four  corners.  As  many  as  1,125,945  meals  were  served  in  one 
month. 

A  bridge  was  erected  across  the  Cumberland  River,  made  neces- 
sary by  the  fact  that  trains  carrying  thousands  of  operatives  who 
lived  at  Nashville  and  other  places,  discharged  their  passengers  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  river  from  the  plant. 

The  bridge  is  a  single  steel  span  suspension,  540  feet  span  with 
trestle  approaches  carrying  1,260  feet  or  1,800  feet  in  all.  The 
floor  of  the  bridge  is  ninety-one  feet  above  the  actual  water  level. 
Not  one  accident  to  any  of  the  construction  workers  was  reported. 

Thus,  when  we  arrive  at  the  memorable  eleventh  hour,  of  the 
eleventh  day,  of  the  eleventh  month,  we  behold  the  progress  of  the 
human  race,  for  surely  it  was  required  to  deliver  the  best  it  had  and 
one  of  the  developments  of  the  great  war  was,  without  doubt,  the 
development  of  the  human  race. 


14 


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Old  Hickory,  Nashville,  Tennessee 


^HIS  is  a  panoramic  view  of  many  of  the  most  striking  features 
of  the  Old  Hickory  powder  plant,  constructed  for  the  United 
States  Government  by  tlie  duPont  Company,  near  Nashville, 
Tennessee.  The  plans,  experience  and  skill  necessary  for  the  con- 
struction of  this,  the  largest  and  best  smokeless  powder  plant  in  the 
world,  were  supplied  by  the  duPont  Company  to  the  United  States 
Government  for  a  consideration  of  one  dollar. 

The  plant  was  built  to  have  a  capacity  of  900,000  pounds  of 
finished  smokeless  powder  per  day.  It  is  complete  in  itself.  The 
total  area  of  the  reservation,  including  the  plant  and  the  village  for 
the  employees  adjoining,  is  4,706  acres.  All  speed  records  were 
broken  in  constructing  the  plant.  Powder  was  produced  in  five 
months  after  beginning  the  work,  instead  of  the  eight  as  specified  in 
the  contract.    At  the  signing  of  the  armistice,  manufacture  of  powder 


was  13,000,000  pounds  ahead  of  contract  requirements  and  construc- 
tion work  96  days  ahead  of  schedule  time.  This  panoramic  view 
gives  an  idea  of  the  enormity  of  the  work. 

To  the  far  right  of  the  picture  is  the  main  power  house,  sedimenta- 
tion basins  and  filter  buildings,  with  the  finished  stage  powder  area 
in  the  distance.  Towards  the  left  and  in  the  foreground  are  batteries 
of  solvent  recovery  buildings.  In  the  rear  center  are  the  air  dry 
buildings.  To  the  right  of  the  solvent  recovery  buildings  lies  the 
first  stage  powder  lay-out,  covering  the  press  buildings,  ether  houses 
and  alcohol  units.  To  the  center  of  the  picture  in  the  foreground 
may  be  seen  various  buildings  of  the  cotton  purification  area.  Stacks 
of  burner  houses  of  the  sulphuric  acid  line  are  seen  in  the  distance 
in  the  center. 


Old  Hickory,  Nashville,  Tennessee 


N  this  panorama  of  Old  Hickory  smokeless  powder  plant,  con- 
structed by  the  duPont  Company  for  the  U.  S.  Government,  near 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  are  shown  the  central  power  house,  acid  mix- 
ing and  weigh,  nitrating  and  cotton  purification  houses,  boiling  tub 
houses,  pulping  lines  and  part  of  the  first  stage  powder  area.  The 
enormous  power  plant  shown  in  the  center  of  the  picture  is  in  many 
respects  the  greatest  in  the  world.  It  was  built  to  generate  at  full 
production  of  powder,  60,000,000  pounds  of  steam  every  twenty- 
four  hours!  If  used  to  generate  electricity  this  amount  would  exceed 
that  necessary  to  supply  the  city  of  New  York.  Its  coal  storage  has 
a  capacity  of  100,000  pounds.  There  are  sixty-eight  boilers,  each 
-with  a  rated  capacity  of  823  H.  P.  Its  filter  plant  consists  of  eight 
units  of  twelve  filter  tubs  each,  with  a  total  capacity  of  6.5,000,000 
gallons  ever}-  twenty-four  hours.  Electricity  is  generated  in  seven 
steam  turbo-generators,  with  a  total  capacity  of  17,500  K.  W.  The 
refrigerating  plant  is  the  largest  in  the  world.  It  has  a  total  capacity 
of  3,250  tons  of  refrigerating  effect  every  twenty-four  hours.     There 


are  thirteen  ammonia  compressors,  driven  by  specially  constructed 
engines. 

Near  the  power  house  is  shown  the  shop  area,  with  the  water  dry 
district  of  the  powder  area  in  the  background. 

The  large  buildings  shown  to  the  left  of  the  picture  are  the  cotton 
purification  houses,  with  the  stacks  of  the  sulphuric  acid  and  nitric 
acid  houses  shown  in  the  background.  The  main  concrete  road  to 
the  lower  plant  is  shown  passing  through  this  area.  In  the  left  of  the 
picture  near  the  center  are  boiling  tub  and  poacher  houses  of  the 
cotton  purification  area  and  the  tall  narrow  buildings  in  the  middle 
distance  are  blending  towers.  The  continuous  dryers  of  the  finished 
powder  area  form  the  background. 

To  the  right  of  the  power  house  is  the  first  stage  powder  area  with 
alcohol  rectifying  units  in  the  foreground.  The  poacher  units  of 
the  gun  cotton  purification  area  can  also  be  seen  in  the  immediate 
foreground. 


15 


Old  Hickory,  Nashville,  Tennessee 


r 


"^HIS  is  another  interesting  view  of  Old  Hickory,  the  largest 
powder  plant  in  the  world,  constructed  near  Nashville,  Tenn., 
for  the  United  States  Government,  by  the  duPont  Company 


In  this  picture  is  shown  much  of  the  area  devoted  to  the  manufacture 
of  guncotton.  The  capacity  of  the  plant  for  manufacturing  gun- 
cotton  is  1,000,000  pounds  per  day.  It  has  a  total  crude  fibre 
storage  capacity  of  42,000,000  pounds.  There  are  complete  plants 
for  the  making  of  sulphuric  and  nitric  acids.  The  sulphuric  acid 
plant  has  a  capacity  of  2,400,000  pounds  per  day.  A  total  of  1,112 
buildings  and  32.12  miles  of  tram  tracks  were  constructed  on  the 
plant.  Before  the  construction  could  be  started  seven  miles  of  rail- 
road had  to  be  built  and  this  was  completed  in  29  days. 

This  panorama  shows  the  nitric  acid  plant,  blending  towers,  a 
cotton  purification  building  under  construction,  a  completed  purifi- 
cation building  and  other  structures  of  the  guncotton  area. 


To  the  extreme  left  in  the  foreground  is  a  retort  house  of  the  nitric 
acid  unit.  In  the  background  towards  the  left  are  shown  blending 
towers  and  continuous  dryers  located  in  the  finished  powder  area. 
At  the  left  center  in  the  background  can  be  seen  the  stacks  of  the 
main  power  house  and  in  the  foreground  stands  the  steel  work  of  an 
uncompleted  purification  unit;  slightly  more  to  the  right  are  com- 
pleted purification  units. 

In  the  foreground  of  the  center  are  the  pre-heater  houses  of  the 
sulphuric  acid  area.  (These  may  be  recognized  by  their  black  steel 
stacks).  Towards  the  right  may  be  seen  the  roof  of  the  sulphur  burn- 
ers of  the  sulphuric  acid  area.  At  the  extreme  right  may  be  seen 
the  main  office  with  pay  booths  to  the  left.  The  Mexican  camp  is  in 
the  background.  A  partially  completed  nitric  acid  retort  house  with 
acid  storage  tanks  completes  the  extreme  right  of  the  picture. 


Old  Hickory,  Nashville,  Tennessee 


r 


"^HIS  panorama  shows  the  community  village,  large  enough  to 
be  called  a  city,  adjoining  the  Old  Hickory  smokeless  powder 

-  plant,  near  Nashville,  Tenn.  Both  the  village  and  the  plant 
were  constructed  by  the  duPont  Company  for  the  United  States 
Government. 

In  this  village  were  constructed  accommodations  for  30,000  per- 
sons. Besides  tlie  dwellings  for  families  there  were  mess  halls, 
camps  and  barracks  for  bachelors,  dormitories,  comfortably  fitted  up, 
for  women  employees,  a  great  commissary  store  at  which  food  was 
sold  at  cost,  and  a  central  heating  plant  for  the  camps  and  barracks. 

The  village  had  all  the  facilities  of  tlie  most  up-to-date  city.  There 
were  recreational  and  social  centers,  a  staff  of  welfare  workers,  and 
the  most  thorough  sanitary  and  police  protection. 

Some  of  the  dwellings  were  of  temporary  construction;  some  were 
splendidly  built  permanent  houses;  all  were  comfortable  and 
equipped  with  the  most  modern  sanitary  facilities.  There  were  ample 
school  facilities  for  the  children  and  opportunities  for  evening  study 


16 


for  adults.  In  the  village  were  two  hotels,  each  with  accommodations 
for  200  persons.  Modem  concrete  roads  ran  through  every  part  of 
the  development. 

To  the  extreme  left  of  this  panorama  can  be  seen  one-story  six- 
room  bungalows.  To  the  right  of  these  bungalows  are  one-story 
apartment  houses  and  still  further  to  the  right  are  numbers  of  two- 
story  apartment  houses.  To  the  left  of  the  center  are  seen  the  main 
stores  and  receiving  rooms  for  the  village  construction  supplies.  In 
the  center  to  the  right  of  the  concrete  road  and  in  the  background 
may  be  seen  the  houses  of  the  permanent  village.  In  the  extreme 
background  is  the  outline  of  the  duPont  hotel  and  the  dormitories 
for  women. 

At  the  right  of  the  picture  in  the  foreground,  along  the  concrete 
road,  may  be  seen  additional  six-room  bungalows,  with  the  village 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  the  center  of  the  foreground. 

Rubberoid  six-room  bungalows  form  the  background  at  the  right, 
and  in  the  background  at  the  right  may  be  seen  also  the  iron  stack  of 
one  of  the  large  village  schools. 


Carney's  Point,  New  Jersey 


HEN  the  United  States  entered  the  war  against  the  Central 
Powers  in  the  spring  of  1917,  the  smokeless  powder  plant 
of  the  duPont  Company,  at  Carney's  Point,  N.  J.,  was  per- 
haps die  most  famous  establishment  of  its  kind  in  the  world.  It 
had  probably  done  more  than  any  other  single  powder  plant  to  help 
win  the  war  for  tlie  Allies.  Continually  in  operation,  on  an  enlarged 
scale,  since  the  early  part  of  1915,  its  output  then  had  reached  a 
quantity  never  before  achieved  in  this  country'  by  any  works  devoted 
to  smokeless  powder  making.  Its  capacity  before  the  war  was 
approximately  12,000  pounds  per  day.  From  this  point  it  was  built 
up  to  an  output  of  900,000  pounds  per  day.  In  order  to  meet  the 
demands  of  die  Allies,  and  also  the  demands  of  the  United  States 
after  we  entered  the  war,  die  plant  was  run  day  and  night,  rush  orders 
and  overtime  being  the  rule.  From  the  early  part  of  1915  until  the 
signing  of  the  armistice,  it  furnished  approximately  758,000,000 
pounds  of  smokeless  powder. 

The  comparatively  small  capacity  of  the  Carney's  Point  plant 
when  the  European  demands  began  necessitated  immediate  construc- 
tion on  a  large  scale.  Roads  were  laid  out,  vast  quantities  of  mate- 
rial assembled,  new  power  houses  built  and  construction  carried  on 
so  rapidly  that  finished  powder  was  delivered  ahead  of  time.  At  the 
peak,  widi  both  the  engineering  and  operating  forces  counted,  this 
plant  employed  approximately  25,000  persons.  When  it  was  in 
operation  the  power  houses  of  the  factories  at  full  capacity  required 
tlie  continuous  development  of  25,000  boiler  horse  power;  the  pump- 
ing stations  had  a  capacity  of  41,000  gallons  per  day;  the  average 
K.  \^  .  of  electricity  developed  was  1700;  the  filtration  plants  filtered 
and  purified  9,000,000  gallons  of  water  per  day;  and  the  refriger- 
atmg  apparatus  had  a  capacity  of  3,000,000  pounds  of  ice  per  day. 
The  total  yearly  coal  consumption  amounted  to  377,000  tons. 

Prior  to  the  war  the  duPont  Company  had  made  comparatively 
little  powder  for  foreign  nations.  The  sudden  call  of  the  Allied 
governments  required  the  fitting  of  the  duPont  form  of  powder,  then 
almost  unknown  abroad,  to  guns  designed  to  use  other  ammunition. 
This  necessitated  development  by  this  company  of  forty  different 
powders  for  as  many  guns.  These  powders  function  under  exacting 
specifications — though  some  of  them  average  42,000  pieces  to  the 
pound,  each  of  these  pieces  is  a  perfectly  formed  cylinder  with  one 


or  seven  longitudinal  perforations  whose  important  dimensions  re- 
quire an  accuracy  of  not  more  than  1/1000-inch  variation  from  die 
mean. 

In  addition  to  the  foreign  powder,  the  United  States  government 
needed,  for  Army  and  Navy  use,  ninety  different  powders,  all  pro- 
duced under  strict  specifications.  Many  changes  in  the  ballistic 
requirements  of  the  guns  made  it  necessary  to  re-establish  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  powder,  a  change  that  was  equivalent  to  the  fitting 
of  entirely  new  guns. 

The  production  of  this  great  amount  of  work  was  carried  on  at 
the  various  duPont  plants  and  Cameys  Point  had  its  full  share.  It 
will  be  appreciated  that  the  production  of  military  propellant 
powders  is  an  exact  science  and  that  the  wonderful  achievement  in 
enormous  production  brought  about  is  increased  in  value  when  the 
minute  care  that  is  necessary  to  produce  accurate  results  is  con- 
sidered. The  measure  of  success  attained  lies  in  the  fact  that  all 
specifications  were  met  while  not  a  single  lot  of  powder  failed  of 
final  acceptance  and  no  powder  was  returned  as  unsatisfactory. 

Coincident  with  the  expansion  of  the  works,  steps  were  taken  to 
provide  housing  accommodations  for  employees.  Large  camps  were 
established,  capable  of  housing  thousands  of  men.  These  were  com- 
posed of  bunk  houses,  the  majority  of  them  being  of  the  type  that 
sheltered  four  men  each.  All  were  steam  heated  from  a  central  point. 
Bath  houses  were  placed  at  convenient  places,  streets  were  laid  out. 
a  system  of  lights  installed  and  large  mess  halls  were  established 
where  food  was  sold  at  cost.  The  conditions  in  the  camps  were 
always  healthful  and  no  epidemics  took  place,  with  the  exception  of 
the  Spanish  influenza,  of  course,  and  this  swept  through  the  entire 
country,  sparing  no  community. 

The  company  also  began  at  once  the  establishment  of  a  comfort- 
able village  for  families.  Large  numbers  of  temporary  houses  were 
constructed,  each  with  its  plot  of  ground.  Streets  were  laid  out,  a 
street  cleaning  system  installed  and  every  convenience  of  a  large  city 
put  at  the  disposal  of  the  employees.  There  was  a  number  of  types 
of  these  temporary  houses,  some  of  them  being  six-room  bungalows, 
other  six-room  apartment  houses,  while  still  others  were  four-room 
dwellings.  All  of  them  were  equipped  with  electric  lights  and  baths. 
AU  were  comfortable  and  sanitary. 


17 


In  the  village  was  also  a  number  of  permanent  houses.  These 
were  larger  than  the  temporary  dwellings,  were  substantially  built, 
with  all  modern  conveniences  and  with  ample  lawn  space. 

After  the  United  States  entered  the  war  several  hundred  women 
were  employed  at  the  powder  works  at  Carney's  Point  and  special 
club  houses  were  built  for  them.  These  houses  had  large  reception 
rooms  and  were  comfortably  furnished.  Each  club  house  also  had 
all  facilities  for  ironing,  sewing,  and  washing  and  these  were  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  the  women  without  charge.  Matrons  and  welfare 
workers  did  everything  possible  to  help  create  the  best  kind  of  social 
and  recreational  life  for  them. 

Besides  the  thorough  sanitary  and  upkeep  work  in  the  village  great 
attention  was  given  to  welfare  service.  There  were  visiting  nurses 
who  helped  out  with  the  sick.  Physicians  were  available.  Com- 
munity houses  were  established,  club  houses  were  opened  and  play- 
grounds laid  out  and  operated.  These  playgrounds  for  children  were 
in  charge  of  trained  play  supervisors  and  were  highly  successful. 
There  were  ample  school  facilities  and  the  attendance  was  very 
gratifying.  The  Young  Men's  Christian  and  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association  had  headquarters  in  the  village.  The  boys  and 
girls  were  organized,  schools  for  adults  were  established,  and  every 
effort  made  to  interest  the  workers  in  their  own  betterment. 


In  all,  the  village  at  Carney's  Point  had  a  population  of  about 
10,000  men,  women  and  children.  Everything  possible  was  done  to 
assist  them  in  beautifying  their  homes  and  prizes  were  offered  to 
those  who  had  the  best  gardens.  Land  was  also  placed  at  the  disposal 
of  families,  for  a  nominal  sum,  on  which  to  plant  vegetables. 

In  effect  the  so-called  village  was  a  small  city  and  it  was  run  by  a 
corps  of  competent  quartermasters.  During  the  time  when  the 
powder  plant  was  working  night  and  day  supplying  the  demands  of 
the  Allies  and  the  United  States,  no  serious  accident  or  catastrophe 
marred  the  village  life.  The  rental  of  the  houses  was  extremely  low. 
While  rentals  were  soaring  in  the  munitions  districts,  the 
employees  at  the  Carney's  Point  village  were  able  to  rent  the  smaller 
houses  at  $6.50  per  month,  the  six  rooms  and  bath  bungalow  at  $8.50 
per  month,  and  the  substantial,  modern  houses  in  the  permanent 
section  up  to  $2.5  a  month. 

These  facts  are  incorporated  in  this  story  for  the  purpose  of  show- 
ing the  very  commendable  spirit  of  the  War  Contractor  (giving  this 
as  an  example)  in  doing  absolutely  everything  possible  to  make  the 
environment  of  his  employees  comfortable,  cheerful  and  wholesome, 
adding  wonderfully  to  the  efficiency  of  the  employee,  and  at  little  or 
no  profit  to  the  contractor.  Indeed  we  know  that  in  many  instances 
it  was  at  a  loss  rather  than  a  gain  that  such  surroundings  were 
provided. 


18 


lr  ^W^Vfy^r^ 


Hopewell,  Virginia 


^HIS  is  another  panoramic  view  of  part  of  the  guncotton  plant 
of  die  duPont  Company,  located  at  Hopewell,  Va.  Some  idea 
of  the  enormity  of  the  work  required  to  construct  and  operate 
this  great  establishment  can  be  gathered  from  a  study  of  tliis  scene. 
To  construct  the  plant  there  were  used  approximately  175,000,000 
board  feet  of  lumber,  approximately  13,000,000  bricks,  210,000 
barrels  of  cement,  4,500,000  square  feet  of  composition  roofing 
material.  6,500,000  square  feet  of  flat  and  corrugated  sheet  iron  and 
600  miles  of  wrought  iron  and  steel  pipe!  There  were  65  miles  of 
cast  iron  pipe,  45  miles  of  terra  cotta  and  13y2  miles  of  wood  stave 
pipe  employed.  Broad  gauge  tracks  totalling  23  miles  and  narrow 
gauge  tram  lines  totalling  32  miles  were  laid  down  within  the  plant. 
The  rapid  construction  and  efficient  management  of  the  Hopewell 
plant  constituted  one  of  the  essential  factors  in  the  great  work  of  the 
duPont  Company  during  the  European  War,  when  all  ammunition 
was  supplied  on  time  and  not  one  pound  of  powder  was  ever  finally 
rejected. 


This  panoramic  view  shows  portions  of  the  power,  acid,  cotton 
purification  and  guncotton  areas.  To  the  extreme  left  are  the  stacks 
of  the  nitric  acid  plants  and  the  acid  recovery  plants.  The  large 
building  in  the  immediate  foreground  at  the  extreme  left  is  one  of 
the  acid  mix  and  weigh  houses  and  immediately  adjoining  it  on  the 
right  are  three  acid  storage  tanks.  The  large  building  immediately 
adjoining  these  tanks  on  the  right  and  in  the  foreground  is  a  boiling 
tub  house  and  the  buildings  in  tlie  background  in  the  rear  of  it  are 
beater,  poacher  and  blocking  houses.  In  the  center  are  the  stacks  of 
"B"  plant  power  house  and  the  large  structure  in  the  background  to 
the  left  is  a  cotton  purification  house.  The  small  buildings  in  the 
foreground  to  the  left  of  the  power  house  were  used  as  headquarters 
for  minor  executives.  Looking  to  the  right  from  the  power  house  are 
four  large  buildings.  These  are  cotton  purification  houses  and  the 
low  structures  near  them  are  cotton  dry  houses. 


Carney's  Point,  New  Jersey 


~^HIS  is  a  panoramic  picture  of  part  of  what  is  perhaps  the  most 
famous  smokeless  powder  plant  in  the  world.  It  is  located  at 
Carney's  Point,  N.  J.,  and  is  the  property  of  the  duPont  Com- 
pany. It  was  a  vital  factor  in  the  great  European  War,  furnishing  a 
total  of  7.58,000,000  pounds  of  smokeless  powder  to  the  Allies.  At 
the  peak  it  employed  approximately  2.5,000  persons.  It  covers  3,300 
acres  and  consists  of  nearly  1,000  buildings.  In  cormection  with  the 
making  of  smokeless  powder  during  the  European  War  approximately 
600.000.000  pounds  of  ether  were  manufactured  on  this  plant!  If 
properly  administered  this  amount  would  etherize  the  population  of 
the  world  four  times!  The  total  length  of  the  strings  of  powder 
manufactured  at  Carney's  Point  would  reach  from  the  earth  to  the 
moon  and  back  173  times,  a  distance  of  approximately  83,000,000 
miles!  On  the  plant  were  143  shipping  houses  with  a  storage  capac- 
ity of  approximately  70,000,000  pounds.    Adjoining  the  plant  was  a 


community  village  with  a  population  of  10,000  persons,  with  social 
centers,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.  houses,  hotels  ,for  bachelors, 
dormitories  for  women  workers,  playgrounds  for  children  and  a 
corps  of  welfare  workers.  The  great  acreage  covered  by  this  plant 
can  be  fully  realized  from  this  panorama. 

At  the  extreme  left  in  the  foreground  may  be  seen  the  finished 
powder  buildings  with  the  stack  of  No.  1  plant  power-house  in  the 
background.  Towards  the  left  center  are  the  water  dryers,  of  the 
finished  powder  area,  with  the  stacks  of  the  power  house  of  Plant 
No.  2  in  the  immediate  background.  At  the  right  near  the  center, 
in  the  immediate  foreground,  are  solvent  recovery  sections  with  the 
stacks  of  the  power  house  of  Plant  No.  3  in  the  background. 
Towards  the  right  of  the  picture  in  the  foreground  may  be  seen  a 
solvent  recovery  area,  with  press  line  and  the  stacks  of  the  Deep- 
water  Point  picric  acid  plant  in  the  background. 


19 


Shows,  as  an  Instance,  Resources  and  Scope  of  One  of  the  Major  Explosives  Industries 

E.  I.  duPont  de  Nemours  &  Company 


The  Power  Houses  of  their  factories  at  full  capacity  required  the 
continuous  development  of  200,000  boiler  horse-power. 

The  pumping  stations  have  a  capacity  of  305,000,000  gallons  per 
day,  exceeding  the  combined  daily  water  consumption  of  the  cities 
of  Philadelphia  and  Boston. 

The  filtration  plants  filter  and  purify  175,000,000  gallons  of 
water  per  day,  to  a  degree  satisfactory  for  domestic  as  well  as  for 
manufacturing  use. 

The  refrigeration  apparatus  has  a  capacity  of  9,350,000  pounds 
of  ice  per  day,  equal  to  the  consumption  of  the  city  of  Chicago. 

Railroad  classification  yards,  capable  of  handling  1,600  cars  at 
one  time,  have  been  laid  out  and  are  in  operation. 

One  hundred  miles  of  standard  railroad  and  208  miles  of  narrow 
gauge  railroad  have  been  constructed. 

The  enclosing  of  the  plants  required  over  150  miles  of  fencing. 

Arrangements  have  been  made  for  storage  of  500,000  tons  of  coal, 
a  provision  deemed  advisable  for  a  daily  consumption  of  10,700 
tons. 

Their  factories  have  handled  1,330,000,000  pounds  of  cotton  or 
2,660,000  bales. 

Production  of  nitric  acid,  1,930,000,000  pounds,  required  the 
handling  of  2,812,000,000  pounds  of  nitrate  of  soda. 

Their  sulphuric  acid  plants  have  produced  2,500,000,000  pounds 
of  acid,  requiring  922,000,000  pounds  of  sulphur. 

Their  factories  have  handled  216,500,000  gallons  of  alcohol,  of 
which  86,600,000  gallons  have  been  consumed  and  the  balance  re- 
covered for  re-use. 

Individual  dwellings  to  the  mmiber  of  10,790  have  been  built. 
These,  together  with  the  accompanying  hotels,  boarding  houses, 
women's  dormitories,  and  bunk  houses  are  capable  of  housing 
65,000  persons.  All  of  these  dwellings  are  lighted,  and  furnished 
with  purified  water,  from  the  company's  plants,  and  are  connected 
to  modem  sewage  systems.  In  addition  to  these  dwellings,  their 
Engineering  Department  has  built  570  community  buildings,  such 
as  those  to  house  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association,  cafeterias,  school  houses,  lodge  halls. 


20 


post  offices,  drug  stores,  banks  and  railroad  stations,  a  total  of  11,360 
buildings,  costing  with  the  necessary  streets,  sidewalks,  fire  protec- 
tion, etc.,  about  $37,000,000. 

The  military  powder  factories  constructed  by  E.  I.  duPont  de 
Nemours  &  Co.  and  its  subsidiary  Dupont  Engineering  Company, 
cover  9,025  acres  (14  square  miles),  equal  to  twice  the  built-up 
area  of  the  city  of  Wilmington,  Del.  Incidentally  their  cost  is  about 
double  the  assessed  value  of  Wilmington.  Their  annual  capacity  is 
893,000,000  pounds  of  explosives  or  in  carloads  sufficient  to  extend 
from  Baltimore  to  New  York  in  continuous  line. 

At  the  height  of  their  work  the  rate  of  yearly  expenditures  was 
three  times  as  great  as  that  of  the  construction  of  the  Panama  Canal. 

The  operation  of  the  factories  of  this  company  has  resulted  in 
production  of  1,466,761,219  pounds  of  military  explosives  of  all 
kinds  furnished  to  the  United  States  and  the  Allied  Nations.  The 
importance  of  this  work  is  better  realized  from  the  fact  that  this 
output  is  estimated  at  40  per  cent  of  the  amount  of  explosives  made 
throughout  the  world  for  the  Allies  during  the  war.  During  the  four 
years  of  these  operations  the  manufacturing  departments  have  been 
continually  ahead  of  deliveries  required  under  contracts.  The  num- 
ber of  men  employed  in  the  military  factories  alone  reached  a  maxi- 
mum of  47,914,  and  organization  built  up  from  a  total  of  5,300  men 
employed  in  all  departments  of  the  company  before  the  war. 

Prior  to  the  war  the  company  had  made  comparatively  little  powder 
for  foreign  nations.  The  sudden  call  of  the  Allied  Governments 
required  the  fitting  of  our  form  of  powder,  then  almost  unknown 
abroad,  to  guns  designed  to  use  other  ammunition.  This  necessitated 
development  of  forty  different  powders  for  as  many  guns.  These 
powders  function  under  exacting  specifications,  though  some  of  them 
average  42,000  pieces  to  the  pound,  each  of  these  pieces  is  a  per- 
fectly formed  cylinder  with  one  or  seven  longitudinal  perforations 
whose  important  dimensions  require  an  accuracy  of  not  more  than 
1/1,000-inch  variation  from  the  mean. 

The  ratio  of  the  number  of  killed  and  injured  and  property  loss 
to  total  men  employed  was  far  less  than  in  preceding  years,  indeed 
was  much  less  than  in  many  reputed  safer  industries. 


Haskell,  New  Jersey 


~^HE  left  portion  of  the  upper  picture  on  opposite  page  shows  a 
panoramic  view  of  part  of  the  smokeless  powder  plant  of  the 

-  duPont  Company  at  Haskell,  N.  J.  This  plant  was  one  of  the 
important  factors  in  the  European  War.  It  employed  at  the  peak 
about  3,000  operators.  It  had  a  capacity  of  210,000  pounds  of 
smokeless  powder  and  40,000  pounds  of  guncotton  per  day.  Other 
guncotton  required  in  the  operation  was  brought  from  Hopewell,  Va. 
The  plant  had  a  community  village  adjoining  it  which  was  looked 
upon  as  an  ideal  industrial  housing  development.  It  had  accommo- 
dations for  450  families,  dormitories  for  250  women,  and  club 
houses  for  800  bachelors.  There  were  modem  and  well-appointed 
service  centers  such  as  community  houses,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  gymnasium, 
and  hospital.    Welfare  work  was  of  the  highest  type. 

The  building  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  picture  and  in  the  back- 
ground is  the  B  line  ether  house.  To  the  right  of  this  and  in  the 
background  is  seen  the  diphenylamine  mixing  house  and  the  large 
building  standing  prominently  further  to  the  right  is  the  alcohol 
rectifying  house.  Almost  immediately  adjoining  this  and  in  the 
center  of  the  picture  is  seen  a  long,  two-story  building.  This  is  the 
miscellaneous  stores  building  and  immediately  behind  it  with  the 
upper  part  showing,  is  the  original  water  dry  building.  There  were 
five  water  dry  buildings  on  the  plant.  To  the  right  of  the  miscel- 
laneous stores  building  and  a  little  in  the  background  is  the  building 
used  as  fire  department  headquarters.  Next  to  this  and  slightly  in 
the  foreground  is  the  alcohol  denaturing  plant.  The  next  building 
to  tlie  right  and  more  in  the  background,  being  almost  immediately 
in  the  rear  of  the  small  alcohol  denaturing  plant  is  the  B  line 
refrigerating  plant  and  pumping  stations.  In  the  background  towards 
the  right  of  the  picture  is  a  new  type  water  dry  house.  The  building 
located  on  an  elevation  in  the  background  towards  the  extreme  right 
of  the  picture  is  the  B  line  blending  house.  The  large  building  in 
the  foreground  on  the  right,  from  which  steam  is  coming,  is  the 


guncotton  boiling  tub-house,  and  the  building  in  the  foreground 
slightly  to  the  left  of  it  is  the  raw  cotton  dry  house.  In  the  back- 
ground, center  of  the  picture,  are  parts  of  B  line  first  stage  powder 
operating  units. 

The  right  portion  of  the  upper  picture  on  the  opposite  page  is 
another  panoramic  view  of  the  power  area  of  the  smokeless  powder 
plant  of  the  duPont  Company  at  Haskell,  N.  J.  Power  for  all  pur- 
poses was  generated  at  the  plant.  In  its  different  forms  it  included 
live  and  exhaust  steam,  raw  and  filtered  water,  high  and  low  pressure 
hydraulic  water,  compressed  air,  electricity  and  refrigeration. 

The  total  water  consumption  amounted  to  about  3,000,000  gallons 
per  day,  of  which  about  1,000,000  gallons  was  used  for  cooling  pur- 
poses. Approximately  1,500,000  gallons  was  purified  by  gravity 
sand  filtration  system.  All  plant  service  water  was  taken  from  the 
Wanaque  River,  while  water  for  drinking  and  special  purposes, 
amounting  to  about  500,000  gallons  per  day,  was  taken  from  dug 
and  driven  wells  and  purified. 

The  boiler  plant  had  a  rated  capacity  of  6500  boiler  H.  P.,  and 
was  operated  normally  at  about  145  per  cent  of  rating.  The  electric 
generating  plant  had  a  capacity  of  1600  K.  W.  in  direct  current  and 
700  K.  W.  in  alternating  current.  The  refrigeration  plant  had  a 
total  capacity  of  approximately  375  tons  per  day.  Hydraulic  power 
was  furnished  at  3500  pounds  pressure  and  at  a  rate  of  300  gallons 
per  minute,  also  at  300  pounds  pressure  and  450  gallons  per 
minute. 

The  two  buildings  shown  in  the  picture  on  the  right  of  the  stack 
are  the  boiler  houses  erected  after  the  outbreak  of  the  war.  The 
building  at  the  rear  of  the  stack  is  the  original  boiler  house.  In  the 
foreground,  center  of  the  view,  is  shown  the  electric  power  houses, 
pumping  stations  and  filter  plants.  In  the  background,  at  the  center, 
are  the  guncotton,  beater  and  poacher  houses.  Towards  the  left  are 
seen  change  houses  and  miscellaneous  shops. 


Seiple,  Pennsylvania 

The  lower  panoramic  engraving  on  the  opposite  page  shows  general 
view  of  plant  at  Seiple  (near  Allentovm),  Pa.,  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Trojan  Powder  Co.  and  the  Trojan  Chemical  Co. 

21 


121  m 


TROJAN 


kSS'si* 


TROJ^N 


#• 


Pennsylvania  Trojan  Powder  Company 
22 


Pennsylvania  Trojan  Powder  Company 

Note:  It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  mention  that  the  Penn- 
sylvania Trojan  Powder  Company  manufactured  all 
of  the  grenade  powder  used  in  American  grenades. 


"^HE  war  activities  of  the  associated  Trojan  companies  (Penn- 
sylvania Trojan  Powder  Co.,  California  Trojan  Powder  Co., 
and  die  Trojan  Chemical  Co.)  began  with  studies  in  connec- 
tion widi  the  manufacture  of  suitable  bursting  charge  for  hand 
grenades  a  few  mondis  after  this  country  entered  the  world  war. 
The  necessity  for  an  adequate  supply  of  a  powerful  explosive  suit- 
able for  use  in  the  enormous  number  of  hand  grenades  which  were 
being  planned  for  the  use  of  the  American  forces  abroad  was  evident, 
and  research  work  was  promptly  undertaken  along  this  line. 

A  supply  of  the  malleable  iron  grenade  bodies  was  obtained  for 
preliminary  tests,  and  intensive  work  was  undertaken,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  determining  the  fragmentation  characteristics  of  the 
explosives  used  up  to  this  time  as  filling  charges  in  hand  grenades. 
The  purpose  of  the  work  was  to  obtain,  if  possible,  an  explosive 
which  would  produce  as  satisfactory  a  fragmentation  as  crystalline 
T.  N.  T.  In  view  of  the  enormous  number  of  hand  grenades  which 
it  was  planned  to  supply  for  the  use  of  the  American  forces,  the 
available  quantity  of  T.  N.  T.  was  seen  to  be  insufficient  for  this  use 
in  addition  to  the  many  other  fields  for  which  it  was  to  be  used.  At 
this  stage  in  the  work,  the  principal  interests  of  the  Ordnance  Depart- 
ment in  encouraging  work  on  other  explosives  was  to  find  an  explosive 
which  might  be  nearly,  if  not  quite  as  satisfactory  in  fragmentation 
characteristics  as  T.  N.  T.,  and  it  is  most  doubtful  if  at  the  time 
there  was  the  slightest  thought  that  die  work  would  lead  to  tlie 
development  of  a  new  explosive,  surpassing  T.  N.  T.  in  safety,  avail- 
ability- and  strength. 

In  all  the  preliminary  tests  the  goal  aimed  at  was  to  obtain  as 
satisfactory  a  fragmentation  as  was  produced  by  T.  N.  T.  and  the 
fragmentation  produced  by  this  material  was  everywhere  recognized 
as  the  standard  with  which  all  other  materials  were  to  be  compared. 
At  this  time  T.  N.  T.  represented  the  most  perfect  explosive  which 
modem  warfare  had  developed,  but  the  problem  was  to  obtain  a 
material  which  would  avoid  diverting  to  hand  grenades  any  consid- 
erable portion  of  the  available  supply  of  T.  N.  T.,  for,  although  the 
results  obtained  from  T.  N.  T.  were  perfectly  satisfactory-,  and  rep- 
resented the  ideal  to  be  aimed  at,  yet  the  other  demands  for  this 


23 


material  would  be  such  as  to  make  it  necessary  to  use  in  hand 
grenades  some  other  explosive,  provided  a  material  could  be  devel- 
oped which  would  be  in  any  considerable  measure  as  strong. 

The  necessary  fragmentation  pits,  to  enable  hand  grenades  to  be 
fired  within  a  closed  chamber  and  the  fragments  to  be  retained  and 
counted,  and  also  penetration  boxes,  to  enable  the  velocity  of  the 
fragments  produced  to  be  determined  by  noting  the  distance  which 
they  would  penetrate  through  spruce  lumber,  were  quickly  arranged, 
at  Seiple,  Pa.,  and  a  commencement  was  made  for  the  many  hun- 
dreds of  tests  which  were  made  in  the  course  of  the  following  two 
months. 

After  having  fired  a  sufficiently  large  number  of  grenades,  using 
the  standard  charge  T.  N.  T.,  and  having  carefully  determined  both 
the  manner  in  which  the  tough  metal  of  the  malleable  iron  hand 
grenades  was  broken  up  and  the  velocity  with  which  the  particles 
were  projected,  the  work  began  of  developing  an  explosive  which 
should  be  capable  of  giving  results  as  nearly  as  possible  equal  to 
those  given  by  T.  N.  T.  As  the  work  progressed,  interest  was  excited 
from  time  to  time  by  test  shots  with  the  new  Trojan  Explosive  which 
appeared  to  be  fully  equal,  not  only  to  the  average  results  produced 
by  T.  N.  T.,  but  even  to  the  best  results  which  that  explosive  showed. 
It  was  soon  evident  that  the  new  product  being  formulated  was  not 
merely  going  to  represent  a  substitute  for  T.  N.  T.,  but  actually  had 
such  properties  as  made  it  superior  to  T.  N.  T.  This  result  was  one 
which  could  not  be  too  readily  accepted,  in  the  absence  of  tests  of  a 
most  convincing  character,  but  as  the  work  progressed  this  evidence 
accumulated  in  ever-increasing  amount.  On  December  3,  1917,  the 
accumulated  data  from  the  large  number  of  tests  made  was  brought 
together  in  the  form  of  a  report,  under  the  title  "Relative  Efficiency 
of  Trinitrotoluene,  80-20  Amatol  and  Trojan  Grenade  Powder,  as 
Grenade  Filling  Charges." 

In  this  report  the  results  of  a  large  number  of  comparative  frag- 
mentations produced  by  crystalline  T.  N.  T.,  80-20  Amatol,  50-50 
Amatol  and  Trojan  Grenade  Powder  were  compared,  and  tlie  results 
showed  conclusively  the  superiority  of  the  new  Trojan  explosive  for 
grenades. 


Formal  tests  were  made  soon  after,  and  the  results  were  so  con- 
vincing that  when  shortly  after,  a  contract  for  a  considerable  quan- 
tity of  the  new  explosive  was  made  with  the  Pennsylvania  Trojan 
Powder  Co.,  it  was  made  a  part  of  this  contract  that  every  lot  of  the 
new  explosive,  before  acceptance,  should  he  tested  in  hand  grenades 
in  comparison  with  other  similar  hand  grenades  loaded  with  T.  N.  T., 
and  that  no  lot  should  be  accepted  which  did  not,  by  this  most  severe 
test,  show  superior  results  to  these  produced  by  the  T.  N.  T. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  at  this  point  during  the  entire  life  of  this 
contract,  covering  suflRcient  Trojan  Grenade  Powder  for  the  loading 
of  many  millions  of  grenades,  no  lot  of  the  powder  ever  failed  to 
show  its  superiority  in  this  comparative  test  in  comparison  with 
grenades  loaded  with  crystalline  T.  N.  T.,  which  up  to  then  repre- 
sented the  most  perfect  explosive  which  military  science  had 
developed. 

With  the  appreciation  that  a  new  explosive  equal  and  even  superior 
to  T.  N.  T.  had  been  developed,  came  the  instant  recognition  of  its 
importance,  and  steps  were  taken  to  arrange  for  increased  capacity 
to  meet  the  military  needs.  The  Engineering  Department  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Trojan  Powder  Company  then  entered  upon  the  work 
of  developing  in  both  their  plants  in  California  and  in  Pennsylvania 
the  necessary  daily  capacity  of  the  new  explosive.  Extension  of  exist- 
ing capacity  and  new  construction  for  additional  capacity  was  soon 
under  way,  but  the  increased  requirements  of  the  new  explosive  as 
its  usefulness  in  other  lines  than  as  a  grenade  explosive  became 
recognized,  kept  pace  with  the  increased  building  program. 

With  the  progress  of  the  war,  the  use  of  trench  mortar  shells  for 
offensive  and  defensive  purposes,  saw  an  enormous  extension.  For 
many  miles  the  front  line  trenches  were  sufficiently  close  to  each 
other  to  make  the  use  of  three-inch  and  six-inch  trench  mortar  shells 
decidedly  effective,  while  the  efficiency  of  these  shells  in  destroying 
barbed  wire  entanglements,  and  in  defense  against  oncoming  troops 
was  thoroughly  understood  with  the  progress  of  the  conflict.  Part  of 
the  military  program  of  this  country  involved  the  sending  to  the 
seat  of  war  a  vast  number  of  three-inch,  six-inch  and  larger  trench 
mortar  shells.  To  satisfactorily  fragment  a  trench  mortar  shell,  with 
the  production  of  fragments  of  maximum  efficiency  requires  an 
explosive  both  of  high  power  and  of  great  brisance;  research  work 
was  commenced  to  determine  the  possibility  of  adapting  the  grenade 
powder  formula  to  this  new  line  of  work.  Comparative  tests  made 
on  the  testing  field  of  the  company  soon  showed  that  here,  as  in  the 
hand  grenade,  the  newly  developed  Trojan  Explosive  gave  superior 


results  to  those  obtained  with  the  fused  T.  N.  T.  which  was  at  that 
time  the  standard  loading  charge.  The  informal  tests  thus  made  were 
followed  by  official  tests  at  Aberdeen  made  on  March  16th,  1918,  at 
which  the  new  Trojan  Trench  Mortar  Shell  explosive  was  tested  in 
comparison  with  similar  shells  loaded  with  the  standard  charge  of 
fused  T.  N.  T.  The  test  was  a  complete  triumph  for  the  new  explo- 
sive, the  behavior  of  which  was  officially  rated  at  100  per  cent,  and 
comment  was  made  of  the  fact  that  while  showing  all  of  the  good 
features  of  T.  N.  T.,  it  gave  in  addition  decidedly  better  fragmenta- 
tion results  in  the  fragmentation  test,  and  noticeably  larger  craters 
in  the  crater  test. 

Shortly  after  these  tests  arrangements  were  made  for  suitable 
extensions  with  the  trench  mortar  shell  program,  and  Trojan  Trench 
Mortar  Shell  Explosive  became  the  authorized  explosive  for  trench 
mortar  shell,  and  until  the  cessation  of  hostilities  the  loading  of  the 
three-inch  trench  mortar  shell  with  the  new  Trojan  Explosive  went 
forward  with  great  rapidity. 

The  research  and  laboratory  facilities  of  the  Trojan  Powder  Com- 
pany were  put  at  the  disposal  of  the  Ordnance  Department  for  a  con- 
siderable number  of  miscellaneous  lines  of  study,  and  this  work  was 
conducted  in  co-operation  with  officers  from  the  Engineering,  Trench 
Warfare,  and  Aerial  Bomb  Divisions  of  the  Ordnance  Department. 
Among  the  many  interesting  lines  of  work  which  were  thus  taken  up 
in  co-operation  with  different  divisions  of  the  Ordnance  Department 
were  studies  on  the  cause  of  prematures  in  rifle  grenades,  studies  as 
to  the  functioning  of  fuse  for  high  explosive  shell  and  for  trench 
mortar  shells,  studies  of  the  booster  and  detonator  assemblies  of 
drop-bombs,  and  many  other  similar  lines. 

At  the  signing  of  the  armistice  the  plants  of  the  Trojan  Powder 
Company  had  a  capacity  of  more  than  50,000,000  pounds  per  year 
of  Trojan  Grenade  Powder  and  of  Trojan  Trench  Mortar  Shell  Ex- 
plosive, and  plans  were  under  way  to  still  further  increase  produc- 
tion of  both  of  these  explosives,  and  of  new  explosives  still  under 
development  for  use  as  bursting  charges  in  aerial  drop-bombs  and 
for  other  purposes.  These  new  explosives,  representing  increased 
strength,  efficiency  and  safety  as  compared  with  the  explosives  for- 
merly used  as  the  standard  bursting  charges  for  hand  grenades, 
mortar  shell  and  like  military  supplies,  represent  a  part  of  the  fruits 
of  America's  entry  into  the  war.  The  Trojan  Powder  Company  did 
its  "bit,"  just  as  thousands  of  other  American  companies,  and 
millions  of  America's  boys  did  theirs,  and  the  net  result  of  all  of 
these  efforts  was  to  bring  the  world's  greatest  war  to  an  end. 


24 


Nitro,  West  Virginia 

General  view  of  Snlukeless  Powilcr  IMaiil  al  Nilro,  West  Virginia,  showing  operating  area  and  employees'  Ijnngalows.     The  right-hand  portion  of  the 


Nitio,  West  Virginia 

The  liglil-liiiiul  portion  of  llip  upper  picture  shows  tlie  employees'  liimgalows  to  llie  lell.  and  to  the  right  ihe  homes  of  Superintendents  and  olTioials. 


The  Hercules  Powder  Company 


r 


"^HE  war  called  upon  American  industry  to  accomplish  the 
impossible.  Possibilities  must  be  gauged  by  past  perform- 
ances to  a  large  extent,   and  if  we  apply  this   scale  to   our 


industrial  accomplishment,  we  find  that  under  the  spur  of  the  coun- 
try's necessity,  impossibilities  were  almost  daily  turned  into  realities. 
We  are  still,  at  diis  writing,  too  near  to  the  scene  of  the  industrial 
battle  to  give  a  correct  estimate  of  it.  There  is  no  dearth  of  material, 
but  it  is  difficult  to  get  the  proper  perspective  as  it  passes  in  review. 
When  confronted  by  such  an  array  of  achievements,  each  of  which 
seems  to  merit  recording  for  all  time,  writers  of  today  must  inevi- 
tably be  misled  as  to  the  true  importance  of  some  of  them. 

Now  we  are  overwhelmed  with  tactics.  The  future  historian  will 
be  concerned  only  with  the  strategy  employed  and  the  generals  who 
devised  it. 

In  the  present  instance  the  tendency  to  over-emphasize  details  has 
been  hard  to  avoid,  but  an  earnest  effort  to  do  so  has  been  made. 
Figures  of  production  claim  a  prominent  place  in  the  study  of  the 
war  activities  of  the  Hercules  Powder  Company.  They  are,  of  course, 
the  final  measure  of  the  assistance  rendered  to  the  country  and  the 
cause.  But  taken  by  themselves,  or  even  when  coupled  with  the  facts 
about  construction  and  operations  that  made  them  possible,  they  do 
not  give  the  whole  story. 

\^'Tien  all  is  said  and  done,  and  when  due  acknowledgment  has 
been  made  to  the  men  who  carried  out  the  manufacturing  operations, 
there  remains  the  most  important  factor  of  all,  which  cannot  be 
expressed  by  facts  and  figures — the  executive  factor.  This  is  what 
we  do  not  see  as  we  go  through  the  records.  Perhaps  its  influence  is 
most  plainly  indicated  when  we  study  the  organization  problem 
which  confronted  the  Company  in  mention,  and  the  way  in  which  it 
was  met.  Before  the  war  1,500  people  were  employed  by  the 
Hercules  Powder  Co.  This  had  increased  to  6,000  when  the  United 
States  entered  the  conflict,  and  before  it  was  over  15,000  were  on 
their  rolls.  Certainly  nothing  contributed  more  effectively  to  that 
Company's  success  than  the  skill  which  mUst  have  been  exercised  to 
bring  about  cohesion  in  this  rapidly  expanding  force.  There  must 
have  been  some  quality  in  the  skeleton  organization  about  which  the 
great  new  machine  was  built  that  was  unusual;  that  does  not  often 
exist  to  anything  like  the  same  degree  in  large  companies.     In  spite 


25 


of  great  dilution  through  the  influx  of  technical  men  from  many 
divergent  fields  of  chemical  and  engineering  endeavor,  and  workmen 
from  almost  every  walk  of  life,  these  pivotal  men  quickly  imbued 
the  new  organization  with  their  energy,  and  with  a  fine  spirit  of  co- 
operation. 

Production  on  such  a  prodigious  scale  as  that  with  which  we  are 
dealing  requires  an  infinite  amount  of  labor  quite  aside  from  that 
which  wiU  be  considered  in  connection  with  plant  operations.  No 
figures  can  serve  to  express  it.  The  final  result,  the  finished  product, 
the  victory  itself,  would  have  been  impossible  without  it. 

Neither  can  figures  and  statistics  explain  why  it  was  that  during 
the  winter  of  1917-18  when  the  inability  of  the  railroads  to  handle 
the  enormous  quantities  of  freight  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  country 
owing  to  the  heavy  snow-falls  and  the  ice,  caused  plants  to  shut  down 
right  and  left,  not  one  of  the  Hercules  Powder  Company's  operations 
was  stopped  for  want  of  coal  or  any  of  the  raw  materials  entering 
into  explosives.  The  materials  necessary  to  make  powder  were 
always  on  hand.  In  connection  with  Government  work,  approxi- 
mately 40,000  carloads  of  material  were  handled  in  and  out  of  the 
plants.  A  detailed  study  of  the  material  which  it  devolved  upon  the 
Purchasing  Department  to  secure,  would  soon  become  tedious.  Tak- 
ing only  the  important  raw  materials,  the  figure  in  pounds  used  runs 
into  billions!  This  probably  means  little  to  most  readers,  but  the 
story  has  already  been  told.  The  material  was  there,  and  the  plants 
never  had  to  shut  down  for  want  of  it. 

There  is  another  important  phase  of  the  work,  possibly  the  most 
important,  which  cannot  be  adequately  presented.  Reference  will 
be  made  to  new  methods  devised  by  The  Hercules  Co.  These  were 
presented  to  the  Government  for  its  use  and  passed  along  to  other 
manufacturers  engaged  in  similar  work. 

The  principal  war  materials  supplied  by  the  Hercules  Powder 
Company  to  the  United  States  Government  were  Smokeless  Powder, 
T.  N.  T.,  Nitrate  of  Ammonia  and  Black  Powder.  The  potash  re- 
quired to  produce  the  latter  was  also  manufactured  by  the  Company 
in  a  unique  way,  which  will  be  described  later.  Before  the  European 
War  started,  the  Hercules  Company  was  engaged  in  manufacturing 
commercial  explosives  only.  Since  then  its  Smokeless  Powder  plants 
have  been  enlarged  from  a  capacity  of  1,500  pounds  per  day  to 


A  portion  of  one  of  the  Smokeless  Powder  lines  at  the  Kenvil  Plant  of  the  Hercules  Powder  Companv 

26 


215.000  pounds  per  day!  It  has  supplied  enormous  quantities  to 
the  United  States,  as  well  as  to  die  AUies.  The  Company  started 
manufacturing  T.N.T.  with  one  plant  capable  of  turning  out  20,000 
pounds  daily,  and  at  die  signing  of  the  armistice  it  had  fourteen 
plants  in  operation,  with  a  total  capacity  of  280,000  pounds  per  day. 
The  manufacture  of  Nitrate  of  Ammonia  and  Black  Powder  was 
also  greatly  increased.  In  normal  times  its  capacity  is  two  and  one- 
half  million  pounds  yearly.  During  tlie  war  it  was  raised  to  six 
million  pounds! 

In  1914  we  were  dependent  on  Germany  for  potash  suitable  for 
conyersion  into  pure  saltpetre  which  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the 
production  of  Black  Military  Powder.  Long  before  September, 
1918,  this  Company  was  extracting  potash  from  kelp  at  the  rate  of 
fiye  hundred  tons  per  month,  a  quantity  sufficient  to  supply  all  United 
States  Army  needs  for  Black  Powder.  Chemicals  which  were  used 
medicinally  and  also  some  which  contributed  to  the  fulfillment  of 
other  parts  of  the  military  program  were  secured  from  the  same 
source  as  by-products. 

Before  the  war,  die  United  States  could  not  produce  over  500,000 
pounds  of  acetone  monthly,  and  this  was  increased  by  1,400,000 
pounds  per  month  through  the  efforts  of  the  Hercules  Powder  Com- 
pany alone. 

Smokeless  Powder 

The  Hercules  Powder  Company's  Smokeless  Powder  plants  are 
located  at  Kenyil,  N.  J.,  and  Gillespie,  N.  J.  From  a  small  plant  for 
the  production  of  Smokeless  Sporting  Powders,  Kenvil  had  been  en- 
larged in  1916  to  produce  3,000,000  pounds  of  Cordite  monthly  for 
the  British  Goyemment.  As  this  is  not  used  by  the  military  or  naval 
forces  of  the  United  States,  the  facilities  for  making  it,  and  the  skill 
in  its  manipulation  which  the  organization  had  developed,  could  not 
be  put  completely  at  the  service  of  the  Country. 

Cordite  is  kno^vn  as  a  double  base  powder,  because  it  is  composed 
of  two  explosive  ingredients,  gun-cotton  and  nitroglycerin.  The  Pyro 
powders  used  by  the  United  States  derive  their  propellant  force  from 
gun-cotton  alone.  For  this  reason  all  their  nitroglycerin  equipment 
became  useless.  The  Cordite  presses  had  to  be  remodeled  or  replaced, 
the  mixing  equipment  had  to  be  altered,  and  the  cutting,  blending 
and  packing  arrangements  entirely  replaced.  Besides  utilizing  and 
transforming  the  Cordite  machinery,  this  Company  designed  and 


constructed  new  equipment  which  had  a  greater  unit  capacity  than 
any  existing  types,  and  which  made  possible  increased  output  with 
a  minimum  outlay  in  time  and  labor.  Methods  of  solvent  recoverj', 
water-dry,  air-dry  and  blending  have  been  greatly  facilitated  and 
simplified  by  improvements  made  by  the  Hercules  Company. 

Finishing  presses  were  remodeled  to  increase  safety  as  well  as 
speed  of  operation.  Important  changes  were  made  in  the  solvent 
recovery  cars  which  reduced  the  time  required  for  recovering  resid- 
ual edier  and  alcohol  from  120  hours  to  60  hours  for  each  carload 
weighing  2200  pounds.  This  alteration  affected  existing  equipment 
only.  An  even  more  important  innovation  was  introduced  in  connec- 
tion with  additions  to  the  plants  that  involved  entirely  new  construc- 
tions, instead  of  adaptation  and  remodeling.  This  eliminates  the 
solvent  recovery  cars  entirely.  It  is  a  combined  solvent  recovery 
and  water-dry  system,  through  which  die  time  required  between  the 
beginning  of  solvent  recovery  and  the  end  of  water-drj-  is  reduced  to 
144  hours  as  against  264  hours,  under  the  old  method,  and  204 
hours  with  the  improved  solvent  recovery  cars. 

The  old  method  of  air-dry  in  which  the  powder  was  placed  on 
racks  in  a  long  building  and  which  was  one  of  the  most  prolific 
sources  of  fire,  was  superseded  by  a  continuous  air-dry  system.  This 
makes  use  of  the  principle  used  in  grain  dryers  and  while  the  old 
mediod  took  a  maximum  of  forty-eight  hours  for  the  process,  the  new 
one  requires  only  six  hours. 

One  of  the  greatest  departures  from  previous  practice  is  shown  in 
the  new  design  of  blending  house.  Two  methods  of  blending  had 
been  used,  both  of  which  were  somewhat  laborious  and  one  of  W'hich 
was  attended  with  a  certain  amoimt  of  danger.  The  new  device  is  a 
twelve-sided  bin  with  partitions  dividing  it  into  twelve  equal  trian- 
gular sections,  holding  a  total  of  125,000  pounds  of  powder.  These 
compartments  have  sloping  bottoms,  drawing  all  to  a  point  at  the 
center  where  twelve  gates  are  controlled  by  ropes  to  a  lever-bank 
like  a  chime-ringer's  "keyboard."  Beneath  the  gates  a  conical 
hopper  is  swung  on  a  scale,  so  that  by  pulling  a  handle  and  watching 
the  dial  of  the  scale,  the  operator  may  draw  and  weigh  from  any  bin 
a  quantity  of  powder  from  one  pound  to  1200  pounds.  By  drawing 
a  small  amount  from  each  bin  in  turn,  a  mixture  is  dropped  into  the 
hopper,  which  further  blends  its  contents  by  discharging  through  its 
bottom  into  the  powder  cart  waiting  beneath.  This  worked  yeiry  well, 
and  gave  the  required  blends  with  a  much  less  expensive  structure 
and  less  danger. 


27 


Building  used  for  the  continuous  Air  Dry  System.    One  of  the  improved  processes  developed  by  the  Hercules  Powder  Company,  Kenvil,  New  Jersey. 

Note  the  chutes  for  rapid  exit  m  case  of  fire. 


28 


Girls  Sorting  Out  Imperfect  Grains  of  Smokeless  Powder.     Hercules  Powder  Company's  Plant,  Kenvil,  N.  J.     Upper  right-hand  view,  shows  Smokeless  Powder 
manufacture  under  difficulties— during  the  severe  winter  of  1917-18;  great  banks  of  snow  are  seen  toward  the  approach  to  the  building  in  backgromid. 


29 


One  of  the  Box  Packing  Houses,  Kenvil,  New  Jersey,  T.  N.  T.  Plant— illustrating  type  of  barricade  used  to  confine  the  damage  in  case  of  accidents. 

30 


At  the  Hercules  Union  plant,  near  Gillespie,  N.  J.,  additional 
apparatus  and  equipment  were  provided.  Changes  here  were  similar 
to  those  at  the  Kenvil  plant.  These  affected  the  finishing  presses  and 
the  solvent  recovery  cars.  On  new  construction  the  continuous  air- 
dry  and  improved  blending  house  were  installed. 

Government  Smokeless  Powder  Plant 
NiTRO,  West  Virginia 

In  May,  1918,  when  the  activities  which  have  just  been  described, 
and  both  construction  and  operation  were  in  full  swing,  the  Govern- 
ment requested  die  Hercules  Powder  Co.  to  assume  control  and 
operation  of  the  great  plant  then  in  process  of  construction  at  Nitro, 
^\  Va.  The  problem  presented  by  this  request  was  one  which  might 
well  cause  hesitation  on  the  part  of  any  company  that  had  already 
expanded  to  a  degree  that  would  ordinarily  be  considered  dangerous. 
This  plant  was  being  designed  to  produce  in  the  neighborhood  of 
625,000  pounds  of  Smokeless  Powder  daily.  To  operate  it  would 
require  a  staff  of  five  or  six  hundred  technical  men,  and  from  ten  to 
twelve  thousand  laborers.  Not  the  least  difficult  part  of  the  under- 
taking w'ould  be  the  management  of  a  town  of  from  25,000 
to  30.000  inhabitants,  including  the  administration  of  schools, 
stores,  hotels,  restaurants,  places  of  amusement,  and  all  the  civic 
activities  found  in  any  city  of  equal  population.  This  was  a  stagger- 
ing proposition  to  put  before  a  company  of  this  size,  but  when  the 
Ordnance  Department  represented  that  however  ill-equipped  in  point 
of  numbers  the  Hercules  people  were  to  undertake  the  task,  they 
were  in  a  better  position  to  do  so  than  any  other  company  in  the 
country,  the  officials  of  that  Company  did  not  hesitate  long  about 
assuming  this  immense  responsibility. 

Steps  were  immediately  taken  to  build  a  new  organization  around 
a  little  band  of  experienced  men  drawn  from  all  branches  of  the 
business.  That  these  men  could  not  well  be  spared,  is  easily  under- 
stood. They  were  sorely  needed  on  the  work  from  which  they  had 
to  be  taken,  and  their  removal  placed  a  severe  strain  on  the  remain- 
ing forces  which  were  already  taxed  to  the  utmost. 

Fortunately,  the  situation  called  for  a  gradual  upbuilding  of  the 
personnel  at  Nitro.  The  first  acid  unit  was  completed  for  operation 
in  July.     By  this  time  the  nucleus  of  a  well  co-ordinated  body  of 


31 


operatives  was  on  the  ground,  and  this  was  enlarged  to  keep  pace 
with  the  progress  of  construction.  The  plans  for  this  plant  contem- 
plated five  powder  lines,  each  with  a  capacity  of  125,000  pounds  a 
day,  which  if  it  had  been  completed,  would  have  meant  an  output  of 
15,625,000  pounds  in  a  month  of  twenty-five  working  days!  How- 
ever, at  the  time  the  armistice  was  signed,  no  completed  lines  had 
been  turned  over  for  operation,  and  such  units  as  were  producing 
were  still  in  the  preliminary  try-out  stages.  The  total  production 
during  an  operating  period  of  about  a  month  was  4,500,000  pounds, 
but  during  this  time  new  units  were  gradually  being  taken  over,  and 
it  was  not  until  near  the  end  that  operations  became  of  any  impor- 
tance from  the  standpoint  of  production.  At  this  time  the  Hercules 
organization  at  Nitro  consisted  of  about  four  hundred  technically 
trained  men  and  women  and  six  thousand  laborers. 


Manufacture  of  T.  N.  T. 

Shortly  after  the  United  States  entered  the  war  the  Government 
approached  the  Hercules  Company  with  a  suggestion  for  making 
T.  N.  T.  at  Kenvil,  N.  J.;  prompted  in  this'  largely  by  the  highly 
succeessful  operations  of  this  character  which  had  been  conducted 
at  their  Hercules,  Cal.,  plants.  T.N.T.,  or  Trinitrotoluol,  is  made  by 
the  nitration,  in  three  steps,  of  toluol,  a  coal  tar  derivitive,  and  thus 
gets  its  name.  It  is  used  as  a  bursting  charge  for  high  explosive 
shells.  Agreements  were  soon  reached,  and  work  was  started  on 
two  plants  in  October,  1917.  These  were  completed  early  in  1918, 
and  have  a  capacity  of  1,000,000  pounds  of  crude,  or  900,000 
pounds  of  refined  T.  N.  T.  per  month. 

All  the  operations  of  the  Hercules  Powder  Company  both  before 
and  after  the  entrance  of  our  country  into  the  war,  have  been  remark- 
able for  the  small  amount  of  damage  to  life  and  property  by 
explosions,  and  with  which  they  have  been  carried  out.  On  one  of 
the  T.  N.  T.  lines  at  Kenvil,  an  explosion  resulted  from  a  fire  which 
started  in  a  nitrator,  and  practically  the  whole  line  was  destroyed. 
This  happened  in  July,  1918,  when  production  was  badly  needed, 
but  it  caused  a  minimum  of  delay.  The  plant  was  rebuilt,  and  put 
into  operation  in  thirty  working  days,  which  is  probably  a  record  for 
construction  of  this  character. 

In  April,  1917,  there  were  four  T.  N.  T.  plants  at  Hercules,  Cal. 
Another  was  finished  in  January,  1918,  bringing  the  monthly  capac- 


ity  up  to  2,500,000  pounds.  This  immediately  became  available 
for  the  country's  needs.  However,  this  was  not  sufficient,  and  in 
1918  work  was  started  on  seven  new  lines,  which  were  in  partial 
operation  three  months  later,  and  all  of  which  were  running  in 
September.  These  additional  lines  increased  the  output  at  Hercules 
to  6,000,000  pounds  of  crude  T.  N.  T.  per  month. 

To  put  these  new  plants  in  operation,  it  was  necessary  to  develop 
additional  water  supply,  which  was  done  by  running  six  miles  of 
eight-inch  pipe  to  connect  with  the  mains  of  a  local  water  company. 
Storage  had  to  be  provided  for  toluol,  acids,  nitrate  of  soda,  sidphur 
and  for  finished  products.  A  contact  type  sulphuric  acid  plant  was 
built  to  produce  6,600,000  pounds  of  fuming  sulphuric  acid  per 
month,  and  a  nitric  acid  plant  having  twenty-two  acid  stills  and  a 
capacity  of  5,310,000  pounds  monthly.  In  connection  with  this, 
new  features  for  unloading  and  handling  nitrate  of  soda  were  in- 
stalled. The  experience  gained  on  seven  other  lines  —  five  at 
Hercules  and  two  at  Kenvil  —  resulted  in  a  design  which  made  this 
one  of  the  most  efficient  T.  N.  T.  works  in  the  world.  It  is  also  one 
of  the  largest. 

Black  Powder 

The  Hercules  Company  has  numerous  plants  for  the  manufacture 
of  so-called  "B"  Blasting  Powder,  but  only  one  for  Rifle  Powder, 
suitable  for  military  purposes.  This  is  used  as  a  bursting  charge  for 
shrapnel  shells,  for  making  primers  and  fuses,  and  as  an  ignition 
charge.  The  processes  for  manufacturing  these  powders  do  not  differ 
greatly,  nor  does  the  required  equipment.  The  principal  difference 
is  that  nitrate  of  soda  is  combined  with  charcoal  and  sulphur  to 
produce  "B"  Powder,  while  potassium  nitrate  is  used  in  the  Rifle 
Powder. 

Nitrate  of  soda  absorbs  moisture  much  more  readily  from  the  air 
than  potassium  nitrate.  On  account  of  this  characteristic,  the 
powders  containg  the  latter  are  more  stable  and  can  be  handled  and 
stored  successfully  for  longer  periods  and  under  less  advantageous 
conditions,  but  they  are  much  more  dangerous  to  manufacture.  Even 
with  all  the  safeguards  that  modern  engineering  skill  has  devised,  it 
has  never  been  possible  to  eliminate  fires  and  explosions.  However, 
the  plants  are  so  laid  out  that  when  these  occur  a  relatively  small 
amount  of  material  and  equipment  is  affected,  and  the  lives  of  very 
few  people  are  endangered  at  any  one  time.     Nevertheless,  workers 


32 


accustomed  to  the  production  of  "B"  Powder  are  usually  afraid  of 
the  Rifle  Powder  Process.  There  is  a  certain  amount  of  superstition 
connected  with  this  fear,  which  greatly  exaggerates  it. 

When  an  ouput  of  Black  Military  Powder  was  called  for,  con- 
siderably in  excess  of  the  capacity  of  the  Hercules  plant  at  Valley 
Falls,  N.  Y.,  the  chief  difficulty  involved  in  changing  the  "B"  powder 
plants  at  Ferndale,  Pa.,  Youngstown,  0.,  and  Hercules,  Cal.,  over  to 
the  manufacture  of  this  product,  arose  from  this  fear  on  the  part  of 
their  operatives.  Ihe  whole  situation  was  complicated  by  rumors  of 
spies,  and  some  accidents  which  were  actually  traced  to  incendiaries, 
took  on  exaggerated  significance  in  the  minds  of  the  workers.  How- 
ever, by  transferring  as  many  experienced  men  from  the  Valley 
Falls  plant  as  could  possibly  be  spared,  and  by  employing  the  utmost 
tact  with  the  men,  and  care  with  the  operations,  it  was  possible  to 
hold  their  operating  forces  together  and  keep  the  plants  running  with 
very  few  interruptions.  A  capacity  of  850,000  pounds  per  month 
was  reached,  against  a  normal  capacity  of  167,000  pounds. 

The  shortage  of  potash  which  has  been  acute  in  this  country  since 
the  beginning  of  the  European  War  might  have  seriously  interfered 
with  Black  Powder  production,  had  it  not  been  that  the  Hercules 
Company  was  in  position  to  supply  its  own  needs  through  the  extrac- 
tion of  this  material  from  kelp,  of  which  a  description  will  be  given. 

Nitrate  of  Ammonia 

Modern  warfare  calls  for  such  a  prodigious  expenditure  of  high 
explosive  shells  that  in  spite  of  all  that  was  done  to  increase  produc- 
tion of  T.N.T.,  which  is  probably  the  best  explosive  for  this  purpose, 
it  was  necessary  to  employ  substitute  in  order  to  meet  the  munitions 
program.  The  best  known  and  most  satisfactory  of  these  is 
Ammonium  Nitrate,  which,  mixed  with  T.  N.  T.,  proved  very  effect- 
ive, the  mixture  being  known  as  Amatol.  Ammonium  Nitrate  is 
produced  from  the  ammonia  liquors  that  are  secured  as  a  by-product 
from  gas  works  and  other  operations  involving  the  distillation  of  coal. 

The  utilization  of  these  liquors  for  the  manufacture  of  this  product 
is  a  part  of  the  normal  operations  of  the  Hercules  Powder  Company, 
as  ammonium  nitrate  is  used  in  many  of  the  commercial  grades  of 
dynamite.  However,  production  for  this  purpose  had  never  exceeded 
the  Company's  own  needs,  and  this  could  not  be  interrupted,  because 


This  plant  was  designed,  primarily,  to 
right  is  the  converter  building  of  tiie  acetone 


procure  acetone 
group,  with  the  ca 


rpe 


the  manufacture  of  B 
nter  shop  and  laborali 


ritish  cordite,  prior  to 
ry  on  the  left.     Back 


The  San  Diego  Kelp  Plant 

the  entry  of  the  United  Stales  into  the  war.    This  panoramic  view  of  the  great  Kelp  Reducing  Plant  of  the  Hercules  Powder  Co.,  at  Potasli  {near  San  Diego,  California),  shows  in  the  I 
of  these  are  the  steam  dryer,  heat  transfer,  centrifugal  crystallizer  and  evaporation  buildings.   On  the  right  of  the  picture  in  the  foreground  is  the  generator  division  of  the  acetone  gr 


eft  back; 
p,  bad 


round  the  156 
k  of  which  are 


kelp  digestion  tanks,  each 
the  power  and  warehouses 


with  a  capacity  of  50,000  gallons.     In  the 
and  in  the  background  the  direct  heal  dryer. 


center  of  the  picture  al 


r 


tlie  war  activities  of  die  country  were  as  much  dependent  on  the 
minerals  mined  with  dynamite  as-on  military  high  explosives. 

Because  its  energies  were  fully  engaged  in  large  Smokeless 
Powder  and  T.  N.  T.  operations,  the  Hercules  Company  could  not 
midertake  to  build  new  plants  for  the  manufacture  of  Nitrate  of 
Ammonia  on  a  large  scale.  However,  in  April,  1918,  that  Company 
agreed,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Government,  to  increase  its  output 
from  existing  facilities  to  the  utmost.  As  a  result,  very  considerable 
quantities  were  produced,  in  addition  to  normal  output. 

Chemicals  from  Kelp 

In  connection  widi  Cordite,  manufactured  for  the  British  Govern- 
ment, which  has  been  previously  mentioned,  the  Hercules  Powder 
Company  designed  and  built  a  plant  near  San  Diego,  Cal.,  between 
Januarv  and  June,  1915,  which  is  unique  among  the  world's  indus- 
trial establishments.  Its  primary  purpose  was  to  supply  acetone,  a 
solvent  necessary  to  die  production  of  Cordite.  After  the  United 
States  entered  the  war,  this  plant  proved  very  valuable  to  our  Gov- 
ernment, supplying  needed  materials  that  were  not  even  thought  of 
at  the  time  it  was  budt. 

In  past  centuries  kelp  has  frequently  served  both  for  potash  and 
iodine  production.  However,  such  utilization  has  been  on  a  relatively 
small  scale.  When  compared  with  the  plant  in  which  the  Hercules 
Company  extracted  these  and  many  other  products  from  the  giant 
sea-weed,  previous  efforts  have  been  relatively  insignificant. 

The  novel  conceptions  involved  in  this  enterprise  make  it  worthy 
of  further  description.  The  kelp,  growing  in  long  streamers  in  the 
shallow  rocky  waters  of  the  California  coast,  is  cut  and  gathered  by 
diree  great  harvesters,  which  hoist  it  to  macerators  upon  their  decks 
and  transfer  die  liquid  mass  to  storage  tanks  below.  Seven  large 
barges  are  used  to  collect  the  cut  from  the  harvesters,  which  stay  con- 
stantlv  at  sea  and  operate  day  and  night.  The  macerated  sea-weed  is 
pumped  into  the  barges  and  transported  to  the  wharf  in  the  sheltered 
waters  of  San  Diego  Bay. 

Here  pumps  of  special  type  suck  it  from  the  barges  past  strong 
magnets  which  remove  all  steel  and  iron  objects  that  would  endanger 
die  machiners"  through  which  it  passes  later.  Through  a  half  mile  of 
pipe  the  liquor  finds  its  way  to  tanks  where  it  is  fermented.  Under 
carefuly  regulated  temperature  conditions,  bacterial  action  ensues, 


33 


resulting  in  the  liberation  of  ascetic  acid  and  potash  salts.  After 
neutralization  with  lime  to  change  the  ascetic  acid  into  acetate  of 
lime,  or  calcium  acetate,  settling,  filtration,  and  evaporation  bring 
the  product  to  a  clear  syrupy  liquid,  from  which  calcium  acetate  is 
precipitated  by  boiling  and  potash  by  cooling. 

The  potash,  in  the  form  of  potassium  chloride,  is  shipped  away 
and  converted  into  potassium  nitrate,  for  use  in  the  Black  Powder 
already  mentioned.  The  calcium  acetate  yields  acetone  consequent 
upon  roasting  in  retorts,  and  rectifying  the  vapors.  In  this  rectifica- 
tion process,  other  solvents  than  acetone  are  separated.  Some  of 
these  were  used  in  connection  with  cellulose  nitrate  or  nitrated  cotton, 
for  the  manufacture  of  lacquers  of  various  colors,  which  formed  a 
covering  for  shells  and  shell  cases.  This  served  the  purpose  of 
identifying  the  various  varieties  by  the  colors,  and  formed  a  non- 
fowling  protective  covering.  Other  solvents  combined  with  cellulose 
nitrate  formed  the  coating  for  aeroplane  wings,  which  is  known  as 
aeroplane  "dope."  The  ascetic  anhydride  mentioned  below  was  also 
used  in  manufacturing  the  non-inflammable  "dope"  for  the  wings  of 
battle  planes. 

Not  all  the  products  from  this  plant  w-ere  used  with  destructive 
agents.  Two,  at  least,  were  sent  on  healing  errands.  From  some  of 
the  acetic  salts  was  made  acetic  anhydride,  a  water-white  liquid  used 
in  the  manufacture  of  acid  acetylo  salicylic  or  of  aspirin,  which  was 
so  greatly  in  demand  by  all  our  medical  units  during  the  epidemic 
of  Spanish  influenza.  Other  medicinal  products  of  the  plant  are 
iodine  and  bromine,  which  have  been  produced  in  a  state  of  high 
purity. 

Experimental  Work 

Coincident  with  construction  and  production  a  large  amount  of 
experimental  work  was  carried  on.  The  practical  results  of  most  of 
this  have  already  been  described  in  connection  with  new  devices  in- 
stalled for  the  manufacture  and  handling  of  Smokeless  Powder. 
Some  of  the  other  work  which  was  not  brought  to  a  complete  fruition 
in  time  to  be  of  actual  service  in  the  emergency  is  nevertheless  worthy 
of  mention.  Perhaps  the  most  important  was  the  discovery  of  a 
means  of  curing  Smokeless  Powder  by  which  solvent  recovery  cars 
and  combined  solvent  recovery  and  water-dry  houses  could  all  be 
eliminated.  This  method  contemplated  plunging  the  powder  directly 
from  the  cutting  machine  into  a  bath  of  alcohol  properly  treated  with 

{Continued  on  page  37} 


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Removing  Potash  Salt  from  Crystallizing  Kettle.     Kelp  Reducing  Plant,  Hercules  Powder  Co.,  San  Diego.  Cal 

.S5 


Employees  celebrating  the  first  step  towards  making  us  independent  of  Germany  for  Potash  suitable  for  military  powders. 


36 


otlier  ingredients  to  regulate  its  action.  This  withdrew  the  ether 
portion  of  tlie  residue  solvent,  and  the  alcohol  portion  was  afterward 
removed  by  a  water  bath.  This  new  method  would  make  possible  a 
great  saving  of  time  in  drying,  and  was  approved  by  the  Ordnance 
Department.  This  invention  was  presented  to  the  Government  and 
tlirough  it  to  otlier  makers  of  Smokeless  Powder  who  were  preparing 
to  put  it  into  execution,  so  that  only  the  cessation  of  hostilities  fore- 
stalled a  revolutionary  change  in  this  branch  of  Smokeless  Powder 
manufacture. 

A  new  Pyro  powder  was  developed  for  the  army  pistol  which 
proved  superior  to  other  Pyro  pistol  powders  in  a  number  of  char- 
acteristics. One  of  its  most  important  advantages  is  that  it  burns 
absolutely  clean. 

The  trench  mortar  was  one  of  the  most  effective  weapons  developed 
during  the  war  for  throwing  short-range  shells  and  bombs.  The  pro- 
jectile for  the  Stokes  type  is  on  the  end  of  a  stick,  and  the  propelling 
charge  is  strung  on  this.  This  powder  charge  was  sewed  in  small 
silk  tubes  joined  at  the  ends  to  form  a  ring,  the  number  of  rings 
determining  the  range.  The  charge  is  ignited  by  a  shotgun  shell 
placed  on  tlie  end  of  the  stick,  which  strikes  a  firing  pin  at  the  bottom 
when  the  shell  is  dropped  down  the  muzzle  of  the  gun.  In  endeavor- 
ing to  improve  this  ammunition,  the  Company  developed  a  knitted 
tube  to. replace  the  stitched  one  previously  used,  thus  greatly  facil- 
itating manufacture  and  loading. 

In  large  calibre  rifles,  such  as  the  ten  and  twelve-inch,  a  priming 
charge  is  necessary  in  order  to  secure  quick  ignition  on  account  of 
the  large  amount  and  the  large  size  of  the  powder.  Black  Powder 
is  usually  used  for  this,  but  at  the  request  of  the  Government,  the 
Hercules    Experimental    Station    developed    a    smokeless    ignition 


powder  which  was  pronounced,  after  tests  at  the  Aberdeen  Proving 
Grounds,  superior  to  other  powders  made  for  this  purpose. 

Making  Dynamite  Under  Difficulties 

There  is  a  story  that  makes  a  fitting  ending  to  a  chapter  full  of 
really  great  achievements.  Corn  meal  and  wheat  flour  are  regularly 
used  in  dynamite,  and  dynamite  is  just  about  as  essential  a  com- 
modity, in  war  or  peace,  as  it  is  possible  to  find.  Nevertheless,  the 
Food  Administration,  pursuing  its  policy  of  asking  why,  whenever 
it  found  food  products  being  used  for  other  purposes  than  sustaining 
life,  suggested  that  it  would  be  desirable  to  find  a  substitute.  Under 
the  circumstances  the  Company  might  have  pointed  out  with  much 
justification  that  research  men  were  scarce  and  that  all  who  were 
available  were  occupied  on  Government  work.  Instead  of  this,  how- 
ever, they  immediately  set  out  to  discover  a  new  ingredient  for 
dynamite. 

Soon  a  process  for  grinding  cocoanut  shells  was  perfected  and 
experimentation  proved  that  meal  from  this  source  was  satisfactory. 
When  the  Government  commandeered  all  the  cocoanut  shells  in  the 
country  for  use  in  chemical  warfare,  and  this  had  to  be  abandoned. 
Next  almond  shells  were  tried,  but  by  the  time  a  method  for  using 
them  was  found,  the  Government  again  stepped  in  and  took  the 
almond  shells.  Peach  pits  were  then  tried  and  the  same  thing  hap- 
pened. Nothing  daunted  by  these  exasperating  set-backs,  work  was 
started  on  pecan  shells  in  the  east  and  walnut  shells  in  the  west.  This 
proved  successful,  and  as  a  result  nut  shell  meal  has  been  replacing 
that  made  from  com  and  wheat  for  some  time.  The  saving  was  not 
large  compared  to  the  Food  Administration's  total  program  for 
reduced  consumption  of  cereals,  but  this  incident  is  a  final  illustration 
of  the  whole-hearted  way  in  which  this  Company  grasped  every 
opportunity  to  help  win  the  war. 


37 


.  i-f%  t^ifm^mt.  ^m^^mi^^mdi 


S'_i!«5^=^ 


View  of  \  illage  from  Havre  de  Grace,  Md.      Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant.  Perrvville.  Md. 


Atlas  Po^^der  Company 


"^HE  Atlas  Powder  Company  are  manufacturers  of  explosives, 
chemicals  and  detonators.  Fifteen  large  plants,  located  at 
important   trade    centers   throughout    the    United    States,    are 


engaged  in  die  manufacture  of  these  commodities,  so  necessary  in 
war.  Four  of  the  largest  operations,  located  at  Atlas,  Mo., 
Re\-nolds,  Pa.,  Senter,  Mich.,  and  Hopatcong,  N.  J.,  are  engaged 
exclusively  in  the  manufacture  of  high  explosives  and  chemicals 
(ammonium  nitrate,  acids,  etc.). 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  Adas  Powder  Company  was  the 
largest  manufacturer  of  Nitrate  of  Ammonium  in  the  United  States. 
This  chemical  is  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  the  so-called 
Ammonia  class  of  high  explosives  and  is  the  principal  ingredient  of 
Amatol — the  well  knoiMi  charge  for  high  explosive  shells. 

Before  die  United  States  entered  the  war,  France  and  Italy  turned 
to  America  for  great  quantities  of  this  all-important  material  and  the 
Atlas  Powder  Company  supplied  their  requirements  to  the  limit  of 
its  capacitj". 

During  the  year  1915,  the  Atlas  Powder  Company  manufactured 
for  the  war  use  of  the  allied  governments  over  13,000,000  pounds  of 
Ammonium  Nitrate,  14,000,000  pounds  of  acids  and  2,500,000 
pounds  of  nitrocotton.  The  following  year  the  demands  for  these 
materials  were  greater,  and  during  1916  there  was  shipped  for  the 
account  of  die  Allies  over  90.000,000  pounds  of  acid  ( sulphuric 
and  nitric)  and  over  25.000,000  pounds  of  Ammonium  Nitrate. 

In  1917  the  shipments  were  75,000,000  pounds  of  acids  and 
37,000,000  pounds  of  Ammonium  Nitrate;  besides  contracts  were 
awarded  the  Atlas  Powder  Company  by  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment in  the  year  1918  for  262,500,000  pounds  of  Ammonium 
Nitrate  and  105,000.000  pounds  of  acids. 

T^  hen  the  United  States  entered  the  war,  the  demand  for  Ammo- 
nium Nitrate  was  so  great  that  the  Ordnance  Department  found  that 
the  then  present  production  of  this  chemical  must  be  increased  by 
many  times,  and  because  of  the  limited  supply  of  raw  materials  from 
which  it  was  made  (in  the  United  States)  the  problem  of  how  to  do 
so  was  a  very  serious  one. 

The  British  Government  was  and  had  been  manufacturing 
Ammonium  Nitrate  by  a  distinctive  and  newly  developed  process 
which  utilized  certain  raw  materials  hitherto  considered  unavailable. 


39 


The  Atlas  Powder  Company,  being  the  largest  producers  of 
Ammonium  Nitrate  in  America,  were  requested  by  the  Ordnance 
Department  to  send  a  representative  to  England  to  thoroughly  inves- 
tigate the  British  method,  and  to  ascertain  if  it  would  be  practical  to 
use  this  process  in  the  United  States.  This  request  was  made 
November  10th,  1917,  and  immediately  the  Adas  Powder  Company 
dispatched  four  representatives  instead  of  one.  These  men — 
Messrs.  James  T.  Powers,  G.  C.  Given,  W.  D.  Craig  and  P.  W.  Parvis 
— accompanied  by  Major  C.  T.  Harris  (since  Colonel),  of  the  U.  S. 
Ordnance  Department,  made  a  quick,  but  thorough,  investigation  of 
the  only  British  plant  using  the  process,  and  returned  to  tlie  United 
States,  December  23,  1917.  They  reported  to  the  Ordnance  Depart- 
ment that  the  "direct  process"  of  manufacture  was  extremely  com- 
plicated, being  an  application  of  what  chemists  term  die  "phase 
rule."  Unless  the  chemical  control  was  maintained  with  the  utmost 
accuracy,  any  of  seven  different  chemical  compounds  odier  than 
Ammonium  Nitrate,  and  all  unfit  for  war  use,  might  result  from  the 
ingredients  used  in  the  process. 

The  process  worked  admirably  in  England  because  of  the  ideal 
climatic  conditions,  there  being  little  variation  in  temperature. 
Under  climatic  conditions  which  prevailed  in  the  United  States,  how- 
ever. Ammonium  Nitrate  could  not  be  produced  practically  and 
economically  by  the  English  method.  The  research  laboratories  of 
die  Atlas  Powder  Company  determined  that  die  process  could  only 
be  used  if  it  were  possible  to  "manufacture"  a  suitable  climate,  since 
there  was  no  location  in  the  United  States  where  proper  atmospheric 
conditions  could  be  found. 

The  situation  was  that  Ammonium  Nitrate  must  be  made  to  win 
the  war  and  the  handicap  of  climatic  inequalities  must  be  overcome. 
The  Research  Uaboratories  of  the  Atlas  Powder  Company,  in  con- 
junction with  the  Ordnance  Department,  therefore  undertook  the  task 
of  duplicating  the  work  of  die  English  plant  under  what  appeared 
to  be  impossible  conditions.  They  devised  a  system  of  air  condition- 
ing which  would  make  the  plant  absolutely  independent  of  all  the 
caprices  of  the  weather. 

Final  decision  to  proceed  was  given  by  the  Ordnance  Department 
March  1st,  1918.  A  contract  was  signed  with  the  Adas  Powder 
Company  for  the  construction  of  a  plant  to  produce  100,000  tons 
Ammonium  Nitrate  yearly. 

[Continued  on  page  47) 


■■^~-"**'^»-^-S;ii3i2iSISB!fc 


Village  Under  Construction.     In  the  foreground  are  Guard  Barracks,  Guard  House  and  Pay  Booths.     Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant,  Perry ville,  Md. 


40 


.Main  Office,  Commissary,  Part  of  Bunk  Houses,  Change  House  and  Boarding  Houses  during  construction.     Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant,  Perryville,  Md. 


41 


View  of  pai't  of  construction  of  Bunk  Houses.     Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant,  Perryville,  Md. 

42 


A  view  of  Air  Conditioning  Equipment  and  Crystalizing  Rooms.    There  were  five  miles  of  crystalizing  pans  (if  placed  end  to 
end)  in  these  rooms.     Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant,  Perryville,  Md. 

43 


Air  Conditioning  Equipment.     Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant,  Perryville,  Md. 


44 


Interior  of  Air  Conditioning  Building,   Ammonium   .\itrate   Plant,   Perryville,   iVId 


45 


Nearly  completed  Laboratory,  where  90  to  100  chemists  made  analyses  every  15  minutes.    Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant,  Perryville,  Md. 

46 


Abundance  of  fresh  water,  good  railroad  facilities  and  proximity 
to  shell  loading  plants,  which  would  use  the  product  determined  the 
selection  a  few  days  later  of  a  site  for  the  plant  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Susquehanna  River,  at  Perryville,  Md.  The  location  chosen  was  a 
farm  of  more  tlian  500  acres. 

A  steam  shovel  started  work  on  a  railroad  siding  into  the  property 
on  March  3rd,  and  construction  of  bunk  houses,  commissaries  and 
temporary  offices  was  begun.  Frost  was  then  leaving  the  ground  and 
the  wet  clay  soil  was  so  heavy  that  it  was  not  unusual  to  see  four  to 
six  horses  dragging  a  few  railroad  ties  or  a  30-foot  steel  rail.  Even 
-then  the  horses  were  mired  frequently. 

Wliile  this  preliminary  work  was  in  progress  corps  of  engineers 
and  draftsmen  were  working  night  and  day  to  prepare  preliminary 
plans  for  the  operating  buildings.  As  soon  as  any  apparatus  was 
decided  upon,  it  was  ordered,  and  in  spite  of  chemical  equipment  of 
all  kinds,  remarkably  quick  deliveries  were  secured. 

A  Plant  Which  Made  Artificial  Weather 

When  it  is  considered  that  a  10,000  horse-power  power  house, 
and  installation  of  filters,  the  largest  in  the  world,  and  the  largest 
air  conditioning  installation  in  the  world  had  to  be  designed  and 
built,  one  can  realize  the  tremendous  job  ahead.  But  about  the 
middle  of  March  sufficient  detail  of  buildings  had  been  developed 
so  that  the  plans  could  be  forwarded  to  the  construction  forces  at 
Perryville  and  work  started  on  the  foundations. 

Work  on  the  power-house  was  started  on  April  30,  and  steam  was 
developed  in  the  first  battery  of  boilers  on  June  19.  The  entire 
building  was  completed  in  sixty-one  working  days. 

On  May  25th,  10,000,000  pounds  of  raw  material  had  been  loaded 
into  the  store-houses.  On  July  3,  the  manufacture  of  Ammonium 
Nitrate  was  started  and  on  July  8th  the  first  product  was  obtained. 
The  amount  was  small,  due  to  the  fact  that  all  construction  work  had 
not  been  completed.  The  production  quickly  reached  the  capacity 
of  300  tons  a  day.  And  thus  had  the  seemingly  impossible  been 
achieved.  In  a  plant  which  did  not  exist  ninety  days  previously  and 
by  the  adoption  of  methods  hitherto  unknown  and  which  were  thought 
impractical  for  conditions  in  this  country,  a  daily  production  of 
600,000  pounds  of  ammonium  nitrate  was  obtained,  or  18,000,000 
pounds  per  month. 


47 


The  inflammable  nature  of  ammonium  nitrate  made  fire-proof 
construction  necessary.  And  the  size  of  equipment  necessitated  large 
buildings.  Sixteen  cast-iron  pots — the  largest  ever  cast,  with  bottoms 
integral  with  the  sides — were  used  in  handling  the  solution.  These 
pots  weigh  22  tons  (49,280  pounds)  each.  More  than  five  and  one- 
half  miles  of  crystallizing  pans  were  installed  in  the  crystallizing 
buildings.  These  would  make  a  pan  four  feet  wide,  extending  from 
the  Battery  to  Central  Park,  New  York. 

To  provide  the  30,000,000  gallons  of  water  used  by  the  plant 
every  twenty-four  hours,  the  largest  centrifugal  pumps  in  the  world 
were  installed,  connected  with  two  30-inch  mains.  The  "artificial 
weather"  was  regulated  largely  with  the  use  of  these  30,000,000 
gallons  of  water,  the  methods  of  control  being  such  that  outdoor 
temperature  of  102  degrees  or  a  minimum  of  below  zero  would  not 
interfere  with  the  maximum  daily  production. 

When  the  plant  was  started  there  were  practically  no  housing 
facilities  for  employees.  It  was  necessary  to  build  a  village  adjacent 
to  the  plant.  Three  hundred  houses,  with  five  to  seven  rooms  each, 
were  constructed,  equipped  with  modern  plumbing  and  heating 
systems  and  supplied  with  filtered  water,  the  quality  of  which  is 
under  such  accurate  control  of  the  laboratories  that  the  bacterial 
count  was  reduced  from  2,000  per  cubic  centimeter  to  50  per  cubic 
centimeter.  Besides  the  dwelling  places,  there  were  two  stores,  six 
boarding-houses,  twenty  permanent  bunk  houses,  community  kitchen 
building,  school-house  and  community  club-house.  Ample  protec- 
tion against  fire  also  was  provided.  The  houses  were  rented  to 
employees  at  a  very  nominal  charge. 

Sixty-five  hundred  men  were  employed  in  the  construction  of  the 
plant  and  were  housed  in  the  most  modern  of  dormitories  and  bunk 
houses.  Eighty-five  bunk  houses  were  constructed,  one  being  com- 
pleted in  five  and  one-half  hours.  The  average  cost  per  square  foot 
was  65  cents,  the  lowest  price  of  any  in  the  country. 

The  total  number  of  paid  meals  served  in  the  modem  commissary 
that  was  provided,  from  March  15  to  July  31,  was  861,454. 

In  order  to  appreciate  the  magnitude  of  the  Perryville  operation, 
a  few  figures  are  given  here  showing  size  of  site,  length  of  railroad 
tracks,  roads,  tunnels,  materials  used  in  the  construction  (exclusive 
of  the  village)  etc. 

{Continued  on  page  53i 


One  ol  the  partly  cunipleted  Refrigerating  and  Air  Conditioning  Rooms.     The  air  conditioning  equipment  is  probably  the  largest  in  the  United  States. 

Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant,  Perryville,  Md. 
48 


View  of  Commissary  during  construction.     14,000  meals  were  served  daily.    Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant,  Perryville,  Md. 


49 


Interior  of  Power  House,  with  feed  water  heater  under  construction.     Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant,  Perryville,  Md. 

50 


One  of  tlie  823  H.  P.  Boilers  under  construction.     Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant,  Perryville,  Md. 

51 


Turbine  Generators.     1,000  K.  W.  capacity  each.     Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant,  Perryville,  Md. 


52 


ATLAS  POWDER  COMPANY'S  NITRATE  OF  AMiMONIUM  PLANT,  PERR\TILLE,  MD. 


Description 

Area  of  property 516  acres 

Length 134  miles 

Breadtli -     %  miles 

Area  of  plant  site 35.8  acres 


TRACK— PLANT 
Miles  of  Track  Laid 

(a)  Standard  gauge,  permanent 6.36 

Standard  gauge,  temporary 1.32 

(b)  Industrial  gauge,  temporary 1.42 


Length  and  Size  of  Tunnels  Outside  Buildings 

(a)  Steam  tunnel 10' wide  x    8'      high  inside  1118' 0" 

(b)  Steam  tunnel 5' wide  x    8'      high  inside       66' 5" 

(c)  Steam  tunnel 5'  wide  x  10'      high  inside       11'  0" 

(d)  Conveyor's  tunnel 5' wide  x    6' 6"  high  inside     242' 5" 

(e)  Conveyor's  tunnel 5'  wide  x    6'  6"  high  inside       34'  0" 

(f)  Conveyor's  tunnel 16' wide  x    6' 6"  high  inside       20' 0" 

(g)  Water  pipe 7'  wide  x    3'  6"  high  inside     185'  0" 


Number  of  Miles  of  Road  Built  and  Miles  of  Pipe 

Laid  for  Both  Water  and  Sewerage 

Miles  of  Road 

(  a  I    Village,  permanent  2.273 

(b)    Village,  permanent 70 

I  c  I    Plant,   permanent  71 

Id)    Plant,  temporary   40 

Fencing — plant  and  piunp  house 2.32 


Water  Supply 
Plant  and  village, 20,000,000  gals,  per  day 

Miles  of  Water  Pipe 

(a)  Village - 3.00 

(b)  Plant   - 3.06 

(cl    Temporary  1.25 

Miles  of  Sewers  and  Dr.4Ins 

(a)   Village,  main  lines 3.51 

(bl   Village,  house  connections  1.62 

(c)  Plant    .■ ; 4.209 


Excavation 40,159  cu.  yards 

Cement 52,483  barrels 

Sand _ 21.108  tons 

Stone 33,569  tons 

Re-inforcing  Steel 638  tons 

Brick 2,356,000  M 


MATERIAL— PLANT 

Note:    This  is  an  approximate  estimate  and  does  not  include 
any  allowance  for  breakage,  wasteage  or  alterations 

Fire  Brick 321,000  M 

Paving  Brick 93.400  M 

Hollow  Tile 770.388  sq.  feet 

Paving  Tile 100.412  sq.  feet 

Structural  Steel 3,920  tons 

Steel  Sash 42,912  sq.  feet 

B.  M.  Feet  Lumber 754,952  B.  M.  feet 


Lime...- 871  barrels 

Cinders 6,198  cu.  yards 

Roofing 287,743  sq.  feet 

Concrete  Walls  and  Piers...      29,274  cu.  yards 

Concrete  Floors 248,936  sq.  feet 

Forms 1,078,370  sq.  feet 


(Continued  on  page  59) 
53 


Interior  of  Machine  Shop.     Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant.  Perryville,  Md. 

.54 


Cast  Iron  Digesters — the  largest  flat-bottom  castings  ever  cast  in  this  country.     So  large  are  thes;e  pots  that  the  building  was  erected  after  the  pots  were  installed. 

Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant,  Perryville,  Md. 
55 


View  of  Yard  when  plant  was  practically  completed.    Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant,  Perry ville,  Md. 

56 


Dredge  digging  channel  into  intake  for  Pump  House.     This  channel  was  dug  out  through  the  flat  some  1,800  feet.     It  also  shows  rip-rap  work  at  intake;   also 

coffer-dam  built  to  allow  blasting  of  rock.   Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant,  Perryville,  Md. 


57 


Pumping  Station,  nearly  completed.     This  pump  house  has  a  capacity  of  30,000,000  gallons  per  24  hours.     Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant,  Perryville.  Md. 

58 


Heating 

Radiation  in  the  plant,  15,000  sq.  ft.;  without  the  plant,  55,960 
sq.  ft.  This  is  connected  to  power  house  through  3,300  feet  of  over- 
head and  underground  steam  main. 

All  heating  is  from  200  horse-power  steam  mains,  reduced  to  100 
and  again  to  3  and  5. 

Steam  Piping — There  were  used  through  the  plant  for  steam  pur- 
poses 256,500  feet  of  assorted  pipe,  from  20-inch  down  (481/^ 
miles). 

There  were  used  in  the  power  house  3,500  feet  of  fabricated 
pipe  (Van  Stone). 


In  addition  to  the  acids  and  ammonium  nitrate  manufactured  for 
war  use,  the  Atlas  Powder  Company  held  contracts  for  other  high 
explosives  as  follows: 

Nitro-Cotton. 
Fulminate  of  Mercury. 
Trinitrotoluene   (T.  N.  T.). 
Tetranitromethylanilin  (Tetryl) . 

The  Perryville  Nitrate  of  Ammonia  plant  remains  a  monument  to 
American  ingenuity  and  is  but  another  demonstration  that  American 
resourcefulness  overcame  handicaps  which  at  first  seemed  to  be 
insurmountable. 


59 


BSiUf'B^-^l 


Pumping  Station,  nearly  completed.    Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant,  Perryville,  Md. 


60 


Pump  House  and  Soda  Store  Houses. 


Capacity  of  soda  storehouses,  45,000,000  pounds  each. 
Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant,  Perryville,  Md. 


Power  house  rated  capacity,  10,000  H.  P. 


61 


Plant  about  half  completed.     Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant,  Perryville,  Md. 

62 


Steel  frame-work  for  the  big  Nitrate  of  Ammonium  Storehouse.     Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant,  Perryville,  Md. 

63 


■-  aj: 

Nearly  completed  Ammonium  Xitiate  Storehouse.     In  this  building  later  was  stored  probably  the  greatest  quantity  of  Ammonium  Nitrate  ever  stored  in  bulk 

in  one  building — 14,000,000  pounds.     Ammonium  Nitrate  Plant,  Perryville,  Maryland. 

64 


The  Bethlehem  Loading  Co.,  New  Castle,  Del. 

Tetryl 


n 


"^HE  manufacture  of  Tetryl  by  the  Bethlehem  Loading  Com- 
pany was  begun  in  the  latter  part  of  1915,  because  it  was 
found  to  be  impossible  to  purchase  in  the  United  States,  Tetryl 


of  a  quality  which  would  meet  the  requirements  of  their  clients  in 
connection  with  various  contracts  for  complete  rounds  of 
ammunition. 

Experiments  were  conducted  in  the  New  Castle  plant  of  the  Beth- 
lehem Loading  Company  to  ascertain  the  possibilities  of  making 
Tetn,4  which  would  pass  the  specifications  of  various  European 
Governments  calling  for  high  melting  points  combined  with  severe 
stability  and  heat  tests. 

Laboratory  results  indicated  that  these  desired  results  could  be 
obtained,  and  it  remained  to  be  proved  whether  these  results  obtained 
in  the  manufacture  of  small  quantities  could  be  duplicated  on  a  pro- 
duction basis  running  into  several  hundred  pounds  per  day.  Several 
attempts,  which  invariably  resulted  in  explosions  and  fires,  con- 
vinced Chemical  Engineers  that  it  was  almost  impossible  under  the 
then  existing  conditions,  to  obtain  the  necessary  quality  of  equip- 
ment combined  wth  the  quality  of  labor  necessary  to  produce  Tetryl 
in  economic  quantities,  without  considerable  risk  to  both  plant  and 
operators. 

It  was  then  decided  to  operate  numerous  small  units  with  conse- 
quent multiplication  of  labor  and  equipment,  involving  greatly 
increased  costs  and  with  this  procedure  excellent  results  were 
obtained,  a  very  high  quality  of  tetryl  produced,  and  a  capacity  of 
25,000  pounds  per  month  was  reached  in  May,  1916. 


At  the  time  the  U.  S.  Government  entered  the  war,  in  April,  1917, 
the  capacity  of  the  New  Castle  Tetryl  Plant  was  25,000  pounds  per 
month.  This  figure  was  limited  merely  by  the  requirements  of  the 
Bethlehem  Steel  Company,  in  connection  with  their  complete  rounds 
contract. 

As  soon  as  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Company  had  fulfilled  its  obliga- 
tions to  the  Allied  Governments,  it  placed  the  New  Castle  plant  at 
the  disposal  of  the  U.  S.  Government  and  in  March,  1918,  the  entire 
plant  was  rented  by  the  Ordnance  Department,  U.  S.  A.,  the  Bethle- 
hem Loading  Company  acting  as  their  agent  to  operate  the  plant  for 
the  manufacture  of  tetryl. 

The  capacity,  with  practically  no  change  in  the  plant,  was  increased 
to  50,000  pounds  per  month  and  eventually  reached  100,000  pounds 
per  month  in  September,  1918.  During  the  months  of  September, 
October  and  November  approximately  280,000  pounds  of  tetryl  was 
accepted  by  the  U.  S.  Government  inspectors. 

All  the  Tetryl  supplied  was  of  the  same  high  quality  as  that  sup- 
plied by  the  Bethlehem  Company  to  their  European  clients  and  the 
best  obtainable  in  the  United  States.  Evidence  of  the  entire  satis- 
faction of  the  Government  representatives  with  the  material  may  be 
obtained  from  the  fact  that  a  very  large  order  for  additional  Tetryl 
had  been  placed  for  manufacture  in  the  New  Castle  plant  just  prior 
to  the  signing  of  the  armistice.  This  order  was,  however,  not  pro- 
ceeded with. 


65 


T.  N.  T. 


Fulminate  of  Mercury 


Two  immense  T.  N.  T.  plants  were  being  constructed  when  the 
armistice  was  signed;  these  were  at  Giant,  Cal.,  whose  capacity  was 
planned  for  2,000,000  pounds  per  month,  and  Racine,  Wis.,  the 
capacity  of  which  was  to  be  4,000,000  pounds  per  month. 

T.  N.  T.  production  records  show,  throughout  the  country,  a  total 
of  16,025,000  pounds  per  month;  this  from  a  monthly  production 
of  approximately  1,000,000  pounds  when  we  entered  the  conflict. 

Picric  Acid 

Contracts  were  placed  for  large  quantities  of  Picric  Acid;  at  the 
tirtie  of  the  signing  of  the  armistice  some  250,000,000  pounds  of  it 
were  on  schedule  among  the  following  concerns:  Butterworth-Judson 
Corporation,  72,000,000  pounds;  E.  M.  Davis,  42,000,000  pounds; 
Goodrich-Lockhart,  10,000,000  pounds;  Hooker  Electric  Chemical 
Company,  2,000,000  pounds ;  Lansing  Chemical  Company,  4,434,000 
pounds;  O'Brien  Sun  Dye  Company,  4,000,000  pounds;  Nitro 
Chemical  Co.,  6,900,000  pounds;  Semet  Solvay  Co.,  72,000,000 
pounds;  Union  Dye  and  Chemical  Co.,  10,000,000  pounds;  the 
Lloyd  Company,  400,000  pounds;  and  the  Aetna  Explosives  Co., 
27,600,000  pounds. 


Fulminate  of  Mercury  was  produced  by  the  Aetna  Company  at 
Kingston,  N.  Y. ;  the  duPont  Company,  at  their  extensive  plant  at 
Pompton  Lakes,  N.  J.,  and  the  Atlas  Powder  Company  at  their  plant 
at  Webster,  Pa.  (near  Tamaqua). 

The  production  of  Fulminate  of  Mercury  (used  in  detonating 
fuses,  boosters  and  primers)  was  about  50,000  pounds  per  month, 
sufficient  for  the  work  in  hand. 

Ammonium  Picrate 

Explosive  D 

Ammonium  Picrate  is  used  as  the  bursting  charge  for  armor 
piercing  projectiles.  It  is  produced  by  an  ammonia  process  which 
makes  it  less  sensitive  than  the  parent  compound  and  lessens  thereby 
the  probability  of  its  being  affected  by  metals  with  which  it  must 
come  in  contact.  When  the  United  States  entered  the  war,  produc- 
tion of  Ammonium  Picrate  was  53,000  pounds  per  month;  when 
armistice  was  signed,  close  to  a  million  pounds  per  month  was  being 
produced  in  the  United  States. 


66 


INDEX 


PACE 

Acetone 27,  33 

Almond   Shells 37 

Amatol    (50-50) 23,  32,  39 

Amatol    (80-20) 23 

Ammonal 11 

Artificial  Weather 47 

Aspirin       33 

Atlas  Powder  Company 39    to    64 

Ammonium  Nitrate 4,  27,  32,  39 

Ammonium  Picrate 10,  66 

Bacchus   (Utah I   Dynamite  Plant 4,  32,  37 

Barkesdale   (Wisconsin)    duPont  Co 10 

Bethlehem  Loading  Company 65 

Black  Po^s-der 7,  10,  25,  27,  32 

Blending  Pyro  Cotton 27,  34 

Carney's  Point.  New  Jersey 17,  19 

Centrifugal  Pump,  Largest  in  World 47 

Cocoanut  Shells 37 

Cordite 27,  33 

Com  Meal  for  Dynamite 37 

Cotton,  Nitration  of 33 

Demolition  Blocks 11 

Demolition  Outfits 12 

Diphenylamine 12,  21 

Dope,  Aeroplane 33 

duPont  de  Nemours  &  Co.,  E.  1 7 

DjTiamite 4,  32,  37 

Eastern  Laboratory    (Gibbstown,  N.J.)    duPont's 11,  12 

Ferndale   I  Pennsylvania)   Hercules  Powder  Co 32 

Fulminate  of  Mercury 8,  10,  66 

Grenade,  Hand ; 22,  23 

Grenite       ...         .         12 

Grenade  Powder 22,  23 

Gun   Cotton 9,  11,  16,  19,  21 

Haskell.  New  Jersey 21 

Hercules  Powder  Co 4,  25 

Hercules,   California 32 

Hopatcong  (New  Jersey)  Atlas  Powder  Co 39 

Hopewell,  Virginia 9,  19 

Iodine 33 


Kelp   (Sea  Weed)        2,  33, 

Kenvil  (New  Jersey)   Hercules  Powder  Co.  26,  28, 

Livens  Projector 

Lyconite 

Mercury,  Fulminate  of 8, 

Nashville   (Tennessee)   Old  Hickory .  ...     13, 

Newton-Stokes   Mortar 

Nitrate  of  .A.mmonia 4,  27. 

Nitrate  of  Potash 

Nitrate  of  Soda 

Nitro   (West  Virginia)   Hercules  Powder  Co 

Nitrotite  Container  for  Propellents 

Old  Hickoi-y    (Nashville,  Tennessee)    duPont's 13, 

Parlin,  New  Jersey ... 

Pecan  Nut  Shells 

Pellets,  Powder 

Pennsylvania  Trojan  Powder  Co 

Periyville    (Maryland)    Atlas  Powder  Co 38 

Picric  Acid 10, 

Potassium  Nitrate 

Pump,  Centrifugal,  Largest  in  World 

Pyralin  for  Gas  Mask  Eye-pieces 

Pyro   Powder 

Reynolds  Plant,  Atlas  Powder  Co 

Rifle  Powder 

.San  Diego    (California)    Hercules  Powder  Co 

Sea  Weed    (Kelp)        

Seiple,  Pennsylvania 

Senter  (Michigan)  Atlas  Powder  Co 

Smokeless  Powder 7,  8,  9,  10,  13,  14,  17,  19,  21,  25,  26, 

Stoke's  Trench  Mortar  Shells 

Tetryl   (Tetranitro  Methylaniline) 8, 

T.N.T.    (Trinitrotoluol) 7,10,23,26, 

Triton 

T.  N.  X.    (Trinitroxylol)       

Trojan  Chemical  Company 

Trojan  Grenade  Powder 22, 

Valley  Falls   (New  York)    Hercules  Powder  Co 

Walnut  Shells 

Youngstown   (Ohio)   Hercules  Powder  Co 


PAGE 

34,  35 

29,  30 

11 

12 

10,  66 

15,  16 

37 

32,  39 

25,  33 

13,  32 

31 

11 

15,  16 

9 

37 

10 

23,  24 

to    64 

19,  66 

25,  33 

47 

12 

27,  37 

39 

8,  32 

4,  33 

2 

21 

39 

27,  31 

22,  37 

10,  65 

31,  66 

7,  11 


23 
23,  24 
32 
37 
32 


DATE  DUE 

JAH  2 

2  2005 

crp    -1  A 

?nQB 

ois     \    1 

L.yjv'j 

UNIVERSITY  PRODUCTS,  INC.    #859-5503 

BOSTON   COLLEGE 


3   9031    023   23310  9 


